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05.07.04
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Marian Gaborik was held to one shot on net and was
a -1 in Slovakia's 3-1 victory over Swtizerland in the
IIHF World Championships. Slovakia will face Canada
in the Semifinal round on Saturday.
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Former University of Wisconsin Badger Dany Heatley
proved hero once again for Team Canada, scoring the
OT goal to send Antti Laaksonen and the Fins home in
the IIHF World Championships. Nick Schultz had two shots
on net, including one in the extra session and was a
-1 in the game. Willie Mitchell went even on the
night. Laaksonen was held to one shot and was
scoreless in the game.
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Team USA will face Sweden late game Saturday and will
be the home team despite finishing lower than Sweden
in the rankings. The US and Sweden met once already
in the tournament and with Sweden as the home team
so according to IIHF statutes and by-laws the USA will
be the home team for the Semifinal round. Sweden
topped the US in the previous game 3-1 and will have
the services of Peter Forsberg in this round as he joined
his national team after the Avs were eliminated from
the playoffs.
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Richard Park dropped into seventh in scoring in the
tournament thanks to great games by Finland's Ville
Peltonen and Canada's Dany Heatley. Peltonen
now tops all scorers with 10 points on 4 goals and 6
assists. Heatley is second with 9 points, 7 goals,
2 assists. Thomas Vanek remains tied for 10th in scoring
despite Austria being knocked out of the tournament
in the second round.
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Reg Berg and the Florida Everblades are hoping to use
a 5-day layoff, courtesy of Disney On Ice's Monsters
Inc show, before their next Eastern Conference
playoff game to regroup. The Blades took a 2-0
best-of-five series lead into Reading but dropped two
games in a row to return home tied with the Royals.
The Royals have won four elimination games since the
Kelly Cup Playoffs began April 5, starting with a 2-1
win over Johnstown in the Northern Division wild card
game as the No. 5 seed. The Everblades never have won
a playoff series elimination game in their six-year
history. Reading's line of Graig Mischler, Kent
Davyduke and Judd Medak combined for five goals and
eight assists in the last two games
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Rick Mrozik and the Rochester Amerks have jumped to
a 2-0 series lead in the AHL Calder Cup playoffs
against the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Amerks took
game two on Thursday by a score of 4-1.
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Jordan Leopold wore the Calgary Flames Green Hardhat
as the team's unsung hero only once during the regular
season, after the Flames' 2-1 victory over
the Minnesota Wild February 15th. The hat is only
awarded after wins and the player who is awarded the
hat keep it at his locker or in his bag if the team
is on the road. Anytime he has a media interview, he
is to wear the hat.
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Wyatt Smith had two assists in the Milwaukee Admirals
5-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves on Friday night.
He also added a fighting major in the game which basically
broke down into a melee in the last 30 seconds after
Milwaukee scored an empty net goal, with no less than
14 players involved, including Milwaukee goaltender
Wade Flaherty. Libor Pivko was the star of
the game scoring a hat trick and adding two assists,
meaning he was involved in every goal for the Ads.
The Ads now hold a 2-game advantage in the series.
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The University of Minnesota Blueline Club is presenting
the 31st annual John Mariucci Golf Open, to be
held at Majestic Oaks Country Club on Monday, June 14.
The tournament raises money exclusively to benefit the
Golden Gopher Hockey program. The golf entry fee is
$150.00, $50 of which is tax deductible. Following golf
will be a social hour and dinner buffet for all participants.
Awards and prizes will be presented throughout the evening
and Coach Don Lucia will make brief comments at the
dinner. Tee and hole sponsorships are available and
the tournament will have a maximum field of 200 paid
registrants. Please contact Gary Heinrich at (651) 739-9676
for more information or an entry form.
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Coleraine native Chis Tok has been the assistant
coach and assistant general manager for the Warterloo
Blackhawks USHL club for three seasons. The former
UW Badger helped his club celebrate the USHL Championship
Clark Cup after defeating the Tri-City Americans 2-1
in the Championship game. Tok retired from professional
hockey in 2000 after playing with the UHL Missouri RiverDogs.
He and his wife Melissa live in Iowa with their baby
son Easton. Blackhawks Head Coach PK O'Handley
is a native of Superior, Wisconsin and coached successfully
at North Iowa and with the ECHL Florida Everblades before
taking the helm at Waterloo. Minnesotans on the
Clark Cup Champion team include: Jay Cascalenda
(West St. Paul), Josh Duncan (Rochester), Adam Dunlap
(Minnetonka), Andrew Guyer (Coleraine), Joel Hanson
(Elk River), Tim Madsen (Elk River), Garrett Regan (Hastings)
and Aaron Johnson (Haywood).
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Toby Petersen's Baby Penguins lost 3-2 in overtime
to the Philadelphia Phantoms on Friday. Toby was
-1 with three shots on net. The series
is now tied at one game a piece.
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ESPN's four-year deal with the International Skating
Union starting in November averages $5 million a year.
That is down from the just expired ABC contract that
averaged $22 million a year to show figure skating.
Gary Bettman and the NHL might want to take note of
those figures as the same networks are involved in the
broadcast rights for the hockey league.
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Goalie coach Warren Strelow hasn't been eble
to watch in person his two goalie proteges, Evgeni Nabokov
and Mikka Kiprusoff. The 70-year-old Sharks
coach is home in St. Paul, Minn., recovering from a
kidney transplant he underwent last September.
Strelow stays close to his players. He speaks to Nabokov
over the phone at least every other day, discussing
everything from technique and strategy to Strelow's
memories of a trip to Moscow in the 1970s. Strelow hopes
to be able to attend a game if the Sharks make it to
the Stanley Cup finals. (some info from AP)
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The Dallas Stars downsized their staff by 12 on Thursday,
citing the uncertain climate for a new collective bargaining
agreement as one of the reasons for the decision.
Stars president Jim Lites said he doesn't expect any
more cuts between now and training camp but that the
club would evaluate and make decisions based on how
the negotiations were going this summer. Lites added
that if part of the season is lost, every upper-level
manager would take a pay cut. That includes Lites, general
manager Doug Armstrong, coach Dave Tippett and his staff
and even broadcasters Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh.
Officials said the team employed about 85 people before
the layoffs. Lites was adamant that eliminating the
positions was not motivated solely by the possibility
of a work stoppage. He said they were also a result
of natural attrition and financial shortfall from a
shorter than expected season. Lites said the Stars budgeted
for six home playoff games and took a sizeable monetary
hit when only two were played. (Dallas Morning News)
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Montreal Canadiens prospect Alexander Perezhogin, a Kazahk
forward for the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs, was banished
for the remainder of this year's playoffs and the entire
2004-2005 season after a horrifying slashing incident
in a game on April 30th. The ban amounts in all to about
a year and is an AHL record. During a the playoff game
Clevland Barons defenseman Garrett Stafford struck his
stick on the back of Perezhogin's helmet and Perezhogin
responded with a forceful, two-handed baseball-like
swing to Stafford's face. The blow left Stafford
unconscious and suffering convulsions on the ice .
Footage of the gruesome hit was replayed on television
news and sports programs throughout North America. Perezhogin
was assessed a match penalty on the play and immediately
suspended indefinitely, pending league review. Stafford's
role in sparking the incident brought him a six-game
banishment that will be served at the start of next
season since Cleveland was ousted from the playoffs
by Hamilton. (AHL)
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Quick Speculation:
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The University of Minnesota's
Men's Hockey Program may soon have a new endowed scholarship
named in honor of former head coach Doug Woog. Recipients
of the scholarship would be required to be Minnesotans.
The success Kevin Constantine has had with young
players in junior hockey is almost certain to translate
into him being courted by NHL squads again. Look
for Ted Nolan to follow Constantine's lead into Junior
hockey to perhaps gain another bid to the NHL ranks.
Nolan has been blackballed by NHL clubs since being let
go after winning the Jack Adams Trophy with the Buffalo
Sabres. Nolan is rumored to be a candidate to coach
the Ciccarelli brothers' Sarnia Sting. |
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Quick Quotes:
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It's a pretty special feeling in that room right
now, said winger Judd Medak, and when we
get into (must-win) situations like this everyone believes
in each other. We don't think too much about it. We
just go out and play. We can just kind of feel the aura
in the whole dressing room. It's pretty neat.
- Former UMD Bulldog on his ECHL Reading Royals forcing
a deciding game 7 against the Florida Everblades in
the Eastern Conference Finals of the Kelly Cup playoffs.
(Reading Eagle)
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``He was -- he is -- a huge part of what we've achieved
in this locker room. Sometimes you're talking
to him and you can just hear in his voice that he wants
to be here. I made a joke: 'Somebody said that you're
going to cheer for Kipper.' He took it seriously. He
said, 'You know that I'm going to cheer for you guys.'''
- San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov on Warren
Strelow (AP)
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05.05.04
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With Russia falling to Finland in the IIHF World Championships
on Monday, Team USA is guaranteed a spot in the 2006
Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, without having to play
a qualification tournament. The US wholloped Denmark
on Tuesday 8-3. Denmark jumped to an early lead
in the first, scoring just 28 seconds into the game.
Denmark went ahead again scoring two goals within 23
seconds after which USA netminder Ty Conklin was pulled
and replaced by Alex Westlund. Erik Westrum scored
a goal in the first period. Matt Cullen had two
goals and an assist and Richard Park had a goal and
an assist in the game. Chris Drury, Bates Battaglia,
Jeff Hamilton and Jeff Jillson were the other goal-scorers
for Team USA. Defenseman Keith Ballard and Brett
Hauer were both held scoreless in the romp. Aaron
Miller finished with a team-high +4 rating.
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On Wednesday The US upset the host Czechs in a shootout
victory. The Czechs jumped out to an
early 2-0 lead until Richard Park got the US on the
board with a sharp-angle shot in the second on
a pass from Matt Cullen. Erik Westrum evened
the score in the third period on one of his team-high
five shots on net in the game. The score remained
tied through a 10-minute overtime period so the game
went to a shootout. Cullen whistled one off the
crossbar, Park was stoned by Thomas Vokun and
Ryan Malone shot wide; it was Andy Roach who scored
the only goal of in the shootout, sending
the USA to the semi-finals and the Czechs out of the
tournament altogether. The US has not medalled in the
IIHF World Championships since 1996 when they rode the
back of former Minnesota Moose netminder Parris Duffus
to a Bronze.
Richard Park has moved into third place in scoring
in the IIHF World Championships with 4 goals and three
assists in 7 games.
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Jordan Leopold was on the ice more than any other member
of the Calgary Flames on Monday night as they closed
out the Western Conference Semifinal series against
the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 in overtime. Leopold
had a team high 30:32 minutes of ice time in 46 shifts and
tallied three quality shots on goal.
Leopold, whose Flames had a few days break after clinching
the bid for the conference finals, came home to visit
his newborn daughter Jordyn, and to celebrate his recent
joy with the purchase of a shiny new yellow Corvette.
Leopold must have had a playoff bonus clause in his
contract with the Flames.
Not everyone has noticed but following the game the
Flames give the player they determine to be the "unsung
hero" a green hard hat with Flames decals.
The player must wear the hat during post-game interviews.
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Former Gopher Ken Gernander ended the marathon game
4 of the AHL Atlantic Division final for the Hartford
WolfPack, scoring, unassisted, 7:49 into the third
overtime, completing their sweep of the Worcester IceCats.
Gernander, the Wolf Pack's 34-year-old captain, took
a shot from the left-wing circle that IceCats goaltender
Curtis Sanford got a piece of, but it trickled over
the goal line to end the 10th-longest game in American
Hockey League history, and the longest for either Worcester
or Hartford. It was the second overtime tally
of Gernander's professional career. He scored
the first on May 2, 1994, when he was playing with Moncton.
Worcester had taken the lead in the third period but
gave up the equalizer with 34.5 seconds left in the
game. Hartford now awaits the winner of the East
Division final between Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The Penguins won Game 1 on Wednesday. John Pohl was
scoreless in the only three playoff games he suited
up for. He was skating a line with fellow WCHA
alums Peter Sejna and Jeff Panzer. Pohl is expected
back in the Twin Cities on Monday.
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Worcester head coach Don Granato wasn't a stranger
to an unlikely comeback, hand it looked like the IceCats
might pull out the win on Wednesday. As coach
of Green Bay in the USHL he lead his team to rally from
a 3-0 deficit to defeat the St. Paul Vulcans. Unfortunately
for Worcester, Granato wasn't able to pull of such a
feat again.
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The Chicago Wolves had twelve days between the time
they eliminated the Grand Rapids Griffins and Wednesday
night, when they faced the Milwaukee Admirals in the
West Division finals of the AHL. They can be excused
for being a little rusty. Wyatt Smith scored early
in the second period for the Milwaukee Admirals.
Smith scored from his knees in the left faceoff
circle. The Chicago Wolves' Karl Stewart answered
less than six minutes later to tie the score.
Former UND Fighting Sioux and Hobey Baker award winner
Tony Hrkac scored the game-winner for Milwaukee 9:20
into the second overtime to clinch the win. The
Wolves' Kari Lehtonen stopped 56 shots in their
first loss of the post-season after sweeping the Grand
Rapids Griffins in the preliminary round. Smith
skates a line with rookie Timofei Shishkanov and Libor
Pivko .
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Toby Petersen notched an assist to help his Wilkes/Barre-Scranton
Penguins record a 5-4 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs
in game 1 of the AHL East Division final.
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Rick Mrozik was a +1 in the Rochester Amerks' 2-0 shutout
of the Hamilton Bulldogs in game 1 of the North Division
Final. Mrozik has one goal and one assist for
the Americans this post-season.
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Kevin Constantine's Everett Silvertips' season came
to an end on Wednesday as they were defeated by the
Medicine Hat Tigers 4-2 to sweep the Tips 4-0 in the
series and clinch the WHL title and berth to the Memorial
Cup tournament.
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According to the Buffalo Sabres' Michael Gilbert there
is nothing new to report on the Thomas Vanek front.
When asked if Buffalo planned on offering the Gopher
star a contract for next season, the response was "he's
still in school. We still control his rights.
There is nothing new there. Can that change in
the next couple of months? Yes, but we'll have
to wait and see how things pan out. At this time he
is still in school and there is nothing to report."
The Sabres have not yet contacted Vanek or his family
advisor. When asked for comment on Vanek's performance
in the World Championships the reply was "traditionally
we do not comment on players or prospects that
are not under contract with the Sabres."
Sabres' GM Darcy Regier and other Buffalo scouts are
still in Prague attending the World Championships.
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Steve Griggs, vice president of sales and service for
the Minnesota Wild says that ticket sales for the
World Cup of Hockey are brisk and that the Wild expects
them to pick up once the rosters for Team USA and Team
Canada are announced this July.
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Mark Coyle, Assistant Athletics Director for the University
of Minnesota reports that the U is looking at upgrading
the video displays at Mariucci Arena. They are
currently in negotiaion with multiple companies about
video boards. Look for the University of Minnesota
to install flat-panel LED displays, similar to those
at Xcel Energy Center, as well as a new center-ice scoreboard
and video display.
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Darby Hendrickson was a -1, Dan Hinote was even and
Kurt Sauer was a -1 for the Colorado Avalanche in their
series and season-ending 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks
on Tuesday. Tom Preissing was a scratch for the
first time for the Sharks, he was replaced by Jim Fahey
who hadn't played since March 9 against the Wild.
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Former Gopher Erik Westrum's wedding is scheduled for
June 26th. He and his fiancee Kelly Seidl are
registered at Marshall Field's.
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Ben Clymer has played only three minutes of one game
in the post-season with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The coaching staff is reportedly disappointed that Clymer
has not been playing his physical and agressive style
that earned him a position with the Bolts the last two
seasons. Speculation is that the concussion Clymer
suffered in November has been the primary reason for
the change.
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Quick Speculation:
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Don't rule out the Buffalo Sabres trading the rights
to Thomas Vanek to another team this summer.
Howard Baldwin, who is moving an AHL team to Des Moines,
has still not given up hope of returning NHL hockey
to Hartford. The Hartford Courant has confirmed
that Baldwin is exploring relocating an NHL franchise
to Hartford. The speculation is that Baldwin will
become involved with the Pittsburgh Penguins and bring
them to the former home of the Whalers.
With former Edina resident Brian Burke looking for
work several teams have surfaced as possible final destinations
for the former Canucks GM. The best bets are for
Burke to end up in Chicago or possibly even New York
with either the Islanders or Rangers with both Mike
Milbury and Glen Sather rumored to be on the chopping
block. Chicago would benefit the most from Burke's
GM skills, and his sometimes caustic personality would
be appreciated by Chicagoans.
There are several coaching vacancies in the NHL.
Look for Kevin Constantine's name to come up as a candidate
for more than one of them.
Daktronics produced the Minnesota Wild's video scoreboard
and "ribbon" displays for Xcel Energy Center
in 2000. The Xcel Center was the first arena to
integrate multiple high-resolution video displays, a
360-degree full-color fascia-mounted display, and other
large full-color displays to give fans the most entertaining
game experience possible. The displays use Daktronics
full-color ProStar(R) and ProAd(R) LED technology
inside the arena as well as on the exterior of the building.
In a recent USA Today article it was reported that
Dallas' American Airlines Arena, whose investment in
Daktronics displays was a reported $6 million when
they opened the building in 2002, was paid for by the
second season in use. The Minnesota Wild's original
investment has been estimated at $6 million as well.
The Minnesota Wild and Daktronics refuse to disclose
exact amounts.
If Dallas has already seen their system paid off, one
can assume that the Wild's original investment
has been more than just paid off. With a sold
out building every night the speculation is that the
Wild pockets at minimum $2 million a season in advertising
revenue from the systems and that figure could realistically
be as high as $4 million or more.
According to the NHL, that revenue is not included
in calculations of expense/revenue figures reported
by Arthur Levitt, the man commissioned by the NHL to
analyze the financial health of the league, which is
a major bone of contention with the NHLPA. The
NHLPA has repeatedly refuted the NHL's figures stating
that revenue, such as the LED screen advertising revenue,
or luxury suite revenue, has been under-reported or
not disclosed at all. Levitt's report is available
on the NHL's CBA website.
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Quick Quotes:
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"It was exciting to watch what those other teams,
Carolina, Anaheim and Minnesota, did in the past.
Before the season starts that's motivation. Teams went
from not being in the playoffs to making great runs.
We said 'Why can't it be us?' - Calgary Captain Jarome
Iginla on inspiration for the Flames' push for the playoffs
this season. (Calgary Herald)
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"Most everything has gone our way," captain
Ken Gernander said. "We had a fresh Jason MacDonald
and Jeff Heerema coming into this round that gave us
a little experience. And when Mac didn't play [in Game
2], we brought in [Ryan] Cuthbert, who is an energy
player and gave us one of the biggest goals for a two-goal
lead. Those things have been going in our favor, which
is good because you need that. Then you keep the game
close and need a big goal from somebody, and who do
you kind of expect to get it? Jozef. And he does. ...
At times we've had to lean on goaltending. You don't
want to have to rely on it, but we knew going in we
had solid goaltending. That's what I mean about things
going our way." - Hartford Wolf Pack Captain Ken
Gernander on his team's readiness before Game 4 of the
Atlantic Division title and chance to play for the Eastern
Conference Championship in the AHL. (Hartford Courant)
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05.03.04
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When the Calgary Flames scored two goals 18 seconds
apart on Thursday night is broke a 14 year old record
for fastest two playoff goals. The previous record
was set by Minnesota's Joel Otto and Paul Ranheim who
scored 22 seconds apart against Los Angeles. The
Flames lost that game too, by a score of 12-4.
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As previously mentioned by Quick Facts, Edina's Brian
Burke will not return as General Manager of the Vancouver
Canucks. The Canucks announced that they will
not renew his contract. Burke was hired by Vancouver
in 1998.
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John Pohl's Worcester Ice Cats are on thin ice in the
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. After Sunday's
overtime loss to Captain Ken Gernander's Hartford Wolf
Pack they are down in the series 3-0. Only two
teams in AHL history have rallied from the same deficit. Rochester
came back to beat Cleveland in a first-round series
in 1959-60. Adirondack came back against Hershey
in 1988-89 and went on to win the Calder Cup. Saturday,
Pohl played his first game of the playoffs since suffering
facial injuries after taking a slapshot in the face
on April 10. The Cats were shutout by AHL MVP
Jason LaBarbera 3-0 with Ken Gernander scoring an empty
net goal at the end of the game. Pohl tallied
an assist in the 4-3 overtime loss on Sunday night.
Mike Stuart has not played for the IceCats since January.
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Karl Goehring, Tim Jackman, Joe Motzko and Mark Hartigan
saw their season come to an end over the weekend.
Their Syracuse Crunch fell to the Rochester Amerks in
overtime of Game 7 by a score of 4-3. Syracuse
became the 12th team in AHL history to blow a 3-1 series
and the fourth to lose the seventh game on home ice.
Rick Mrozik will help the Amerks in their attempt to
topple the Hamilton Bulldogs, who won their series against
the Cleveland Barons.
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Casey Hankinson's 5th seed Cincinnati Mighty Ducks
came within one game of upsetting the top-ranked Milwaukee
Admirals but the Ads proved too strong, coming back
from 2-1 and 3-2 series deficits to win the deciding
game 7 on Sunday 5-1. Wyatt Smith was scoreless
for the Ads.
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Erik Westrum is posting a journal of his experiences
with Team USA competing in the World Championships in
Prague. The journal is available on the Phoenix
Coyotes website. Westy's Team USA held off Russia
3-2 with two controversial goals late in the third.
Ryan Malone, Chris Drury and Dustin Brown scored for
the US. Matt Cullen had an assist in the
game adn Westrum racked up 2 minutes in the box on a
roughing call.
Westrum is planning his June wedding via conference
call from the Czech Republic. He is rooming with
fellow Minnesotan Matt Cullen.
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The US fell to Sweden 3-1 on Sunday. Keith
Ballard earned a high-sticking minor and Westrum chalked
up another roughing minor. Bates Battaglia scored
the lone goal for the US, shorthanded. The US
faces Denmark tomorrow.
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There is a nice Q&A with Ballard here: http://live82.ihwc.net/english/article/qa/index.ihwc?&artId=1676
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Team USA now has 3 points, good for third in Group
F, and remains ahead of Russia and Denmark so has a
good chance to finish in the top 8 in the tournament,
securing a berth to the Olympics in Turin.
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Thomas Vanek had 5 goals and 2 assists for Team Austria,
good for second in the tournament and only one
point behind top-ranked Jaromir Jagr. However,
Vanek was scoreless and held to just one shot on net in
Austria's 5-2 loss to Latvia Monday. Vanek had
two shots in Austrias 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic,
Friday, and registered one shot in Austrias 3-1
loss to Germany. Reinhard Divis, Martin Ulrich, and
Gerhard Unterluggauer were named Austria's top players
of the tournament.Sergei Zholtok scored a goal and an
assist for Latvia. The Austrians are eliminated
from Quarter-Final contention with the loss, which will
send Vanek home in time for finals at the University
of Minnesota. Reinhard Divis, Martin Ulrich, and
Gerhard Unterluggauer were named Austria's top players
of the tournament.
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Jordan Leopold is the 17th ranked defenseman in the
playoffs in points with 4 assists, he ranks 14th in
ice time averaging 25:41 minutes a game, but tops the
list with Dan Boyle in +/1 with a +7 rating all in 12
playoff games for the Flames who are on the verge of
a berth to the Western Conference Final.
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Kevin Constantine's Everett Silvertips dropped the
opener of the WHL Championships on Saturday by a score
of 4-1. The Tips face the Medicine Hat Tigers
in game two on Tuesday.
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Marian Gaborik had a goal and an assist in Slovakia's
7-0 victory over Denmark on Sunday. He now has 4 goals
and 2 assists in the tournament.
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Reg Berg's Florida Everblades lead their Eastern Conference
playoff series against the Reading Royals two games
to none. Florida has won its last six playoff
games, outscoring opponents by a 25-11 margin.
Berg is tied for the Kelly Cup Playoffs lead with 10
assists and is second in scoring with 14 points (4g-10a).
Reading's Mat Snesrud is tied for the lead among defensemen
in the postseason with two game-winning goals and is
tied for second among defensemen with three goals.
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NHL rules require a player to have performed in at
least 40 regular-season games and at least one game
during the championship series in order to have their
name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Ben Clymer played
63 regular season games for the Tampa Bay Lightning
but has suited up for only one game in the playoffs,
and was on the ice for less than 4 minutes. However,
The NHL has softened its standards in the past.. After
the 1994 season, the New York Rangers fought hard to
get the names of Eddie Olczyk and Mike Hartman on the
Cup even though they fell short of the standards. Detroit
got Vladimir Konstantinov's name on the Cup even though
he hadn't played a game all season, his career ended
in an auto accident a year earlier. Dallas Stars
Brent Severyn, Doug Lidster and Brad Lukowich had
their names included in 1999 though they didn't skate
in the finals. There could be an exception made
for Clymer if the Bolts win the hockey holy grail because each
club is allowed a maximum of 52 names including players,
coaches and front office staff. We'll have to
wait and see if Tampa can go that far and whether the
former Gopher suits up if they do.
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Quick Quotes:
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"Keith is really an up and coming defenseman for
the Coyotes and he has high expectations with himself
and also with his play for Team USA. I think
Keith was a little nervous at first, but Paul [Mara]
is a great teammate and has helped Keith at certain
times. Keith is the type of kid who is willing
to take advice from players that have played a lot of
games in the National Hockey League, but at the same
time Keith has showed a lot of poise in the tournament. "
- Former Gopher Erik Westrum on future Coyotes' teammate
Keith Ballard in his online journal from the World Championships.
(phoenixcoyotes.com)
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04.30.04
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Ottawa Senators scout Ken Williamson died this week
of a stomach aneurysm. He was 64. Williamson
died in a Minneapolis hospital Wednesday, the Senators
announced Friday. The Winnipeg native joined
the team in August 1999 as the western United States
amateur scout. Prior to joining the Sens, he scouted
for the St. Louis Blues. Ken is survived by his wife
Gale, three children and six grandchildren. The
funeral will be held Monday in Lakeville. (CP)
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Kurt Sauer got his first start of the playoffs with
the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Sauer
replaced injured defenseman Robert Blake on the Avs
blueline and played over 13 minutes in the Avs first
win of the series. Dan Hinote was stopped cold
on two breakaways in the game. Darby Hendrickson's
faceoff prowess continued. The game marked the
first time of the postseason all three Minnesota members
of the Lanche were suited up together.
|
 |
Minnesota's Ben Clymer has played only 3:12 of one
playoff game for the Tampa Bay Lightning who will play
in the Eastern Conference Final.
|
 |
Barry Melrose, ESPN analyst, finally seems to have
noticed Jordan Leopold's play with the Flames.
Melrose gave Leo props during intermission of the Lightning
game on Thursday night, mentioning how well the Golden
Gopher from Minnesota was playing, especially given
the absence of several key blueliners for the Flames.
|
 |
Prior to Friday's game against the Czech Republic Thomas
Vanek of Austria was tied on the top scorers list for
the World Championships with Martin Rucinsky.
Rucinsky and Vanek went into their head-to-head battle
Friday tied with 7 points each. Vanek is listed as hockeysfuture.com's
5th best prospect currently in the NHL system.
For the first time in the tournament Vanek was held
without a point when the hometown Czechs defeated Austria
2-0, both goals coming on the power play.
|
 |
Not wanting to mess with a winning formula Worcester
IceCats head coach chose not to play John Pohl
despite the former Gopher being cleared to play after
suffering facial injuries after being hit in the face
by a slapshot. The Cats had been victorious in
two playoff series without Pohl in the lineup but that
formula didn't prove enough against Ken Gernander and
the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night. The Pack
jumped to an early lead in the first and added another
shorthanded tally in the second while AHL Player of
the Year Jason LaBarbera turned away all but one of
the IceCats 28 shots. Hartford took the game by
a score of 3-1. Worcester went 0-for-8 on the
power play.
|
 |
Casey Hankinson and his Cincinnati Mighty Ducks faced
the AHLs best regular season team the Milwaukee Admirals,
including Hankinson's former Gopher teammate Wyatt Smith.
Hankinson scored a power play goal in the first to put
the Ducks up 2-1 but Smith answered shortly after with
a tally of his own to knot the score at 2. Milwaukee
took the lead in the second with two
goals. Cincinnati answered with a goal before
the end of the second stanza but was unable to come
back and Milwaukee skated away with the 6-3 win
outshooting the baby Ducks 35-23. Despite their
goals both Hankinson and Smith ended up with minus ratings.
|
 |
Tim Conboy signed a contract with the San Jose Sharks
last week. On Friday Conboy tallied two assists
on the Cleveland Barons' first and third goals on their
way to a 4-0 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs Friday
night. The game dizzolved into a melee at the
end of the third period with even the goalies getting
into the act. 22 different penalties were
assessed in the third period alone. The victory
helped get the Barons back into their Conference semifinal
series against the Bulldogs. Cleveland staved
off elimination to set the series at 3 games to 2 with
Hamilton holding the advantage.
|
 |
The NCAA on Wednesday granted a waiver allowing 17-
and 18-year-old hockey players at Division I schools
to enter the NHL draft in June. The players
would retain college eligibility as long as they don't
play for a professional team or hire an agent. NHL
teams can keep draft rights until 30 days after a player
graduates from college. The league recently changed
its draft eligibility requirements to include players
who turn 18 on or before Sept. 15, and those who turn
19 between Sept. 16 and Dec. 31. Under current
NCAA rules, players under 19 would not be eligible for
the June 26-27 draft. The waiver, approved
last week by the NCAA's Division I Management Council
administrative review subcommittee, applies only for
the 2003-04 academic year. The possibility of extending
the waiver beyond this year will be discussed at a meeting
of a Division I subcommittee on agents and amateurism
in June. NCAA officials believe the waiver
will affect fewer than a dozen players for this year's
draft. The agreement will not affect any of the Gophers
as they are all older than 18. (AP)
|
 |
Kevin Constantine's Everett Silvertips did it again,
against all odds, and down in the series, his expansion
WHL club came back from a 3-1 game deficit against the
Kelowna Rockets, winning three straight games to earn
a berth to the Western Conference Finals and a chance
to compete in the Memorial Cup. If successful,
the Tips will become the first expansion team in the
history of the CHL to make it to the Memorial Cup. Everett
will face the Medicine Hat Tigers for the WHL championship.
Constantine was recently named WHL coach of the year.
|
 |
This isn't the first time Constantine has broken records
with a new club. He founded the Pittsburgh Forge,
Junior A team competing in the North American Hockey
League. As the team's general manager and co-coach,
Kevin helped build the Forge into a national power.
The Forge finished their first season becoming the first
expansion team ever to make the national tournament
where they finished as runners-up. In the second season,
the Forge set a national Junior A record with 43 wins
and won the NAHL's regular season championship.
|
 |
Don't know if anyone caught the irony but the WHA franchsie
that was initially headed to Minneapolis before negotiations
with Target Center were terminated following a management
change, may be headed to Dallas. No word on if
a team would head for Winnipeg too.
|
 |
Hockey Gladiator tickets are on sale now but the expected
windfall for event entrepreneur Darryl Wolski will come
from revenues earned from Pay-per-View TV coverage and
sales of DVDs of the two night events. Wolksi
was quoted as saying he has sunk at least a million
dollars of his own money into the event. (Winnipeg
Sun)
|
|
Quick Speculation:
|
 |
Kevin Constantine has
been fired as head coach of the San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh
Penguins and New Jersey Devils. However, his success
in the Junior hockey ranks, with younger players, is
amazing. With the NHL likely getting much younger
if there is a work-stoppage, look for Constantine, and
his defense-first systems, to get good consideration for
another shot behind an NHL bench. |
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"Magic, I think. If you wrote a movie and
said a team is going to be down 3-1 in a series and
win three overtime games, it makes for nice movies,
but it's not real life. The fact we actually did that
is kind of mystical a little bit. We think we did
some good things during the year that gave us that opportunity,
but we're kind of shaking our heads in disbelief that
we did it the way we did it at the end."
- International Falls native and Everett Silvertips
head coach Kevin Constantine on his expansion club earning
a chance to compete for the WHL title.
|
 |
"We could have been more productive on the power
play. We had some chances but couldn't score."
- Former Wild Forward Sergei Zholtok on his Team Latvia's
shutout loss to the Canadians on Friday. (IHWC.net)
|
 |
"I don't mind gambling at all, and this is the
biggest gamble of my life. It's going to be great or
I'll have a gun in my mouth -- it'll be one of the two."
- Hockey Gladiators founder Darryl Wolski on whether
he thinks his event at Target Center will be a success.
|
 |
04.28.04
|
 |
It's a girl! For former Gopher and current Calgary
defenseman Jordan Leopold and his wife Jamie.
Jordyn Maria was welcomed to this world Sunday morning
in Minneapolis. Just like daddy, Jordyn had perfect
timing because the Flames had a two-day break between
playoff games against the Red Wings allowing Leopold
to be in attendance for the birth of his first
child. Leo has 4 assists and is a +6 in the playoffs
this season but is scoreless against the Wings.
|
 |
John Pohl has been cleared by doctors to resume play
after missing two series of playoff action for the Worcester
IceCats due to facial injuries suffered when he was
struck in the face by a slap shot in the final weekend
of the regular season. Pohl's return to action
will depend on his level of conditioning according to
Cats coach Don Granato. (Worcester Telegram Gazette)
|
 |
Erik Westrum scored a goal in a 3-3
tie for Team USA against Slovakia Monday. Westrum
put away a rebound on a tip-in shot by Hal Gill.
Ryan Malone scored the third goal for the US.
Chris Drury was given a controversial and reportedly
questionable cross-checking major and game misconduct
early in the first period of the game. Richard
Park of the Wild scored the opening goal for the USA
and earned an assist on Malone's tally. Marian
Gaborik was held scoreless in the game for Slovakia.
|
 |
On Wednesday, the US trounced Ukraine 7-1 in IIHF World
Championship competition in Prague. Keith Ballard
scored his first goal of the tournament in the third
period, assisted by Chris Drury and Erik Westrum to
put the US up 6-0. Westrum tallied 2 assists in the
game. Richard Park scored a power play goal and
Ryan Malone also got on the board with the second goal
in the rout. Matt Cullen notched a helper.
The US let Ukraine get on the board with a power play
goal with 38 seconds remaining in the game, destroying
Mike Dunham's shutout bid. The US finishes the
preliminary round with a 1-1-1 record and will not play
again until Saturday when they face Russia.
|
 |
Canada, with Wild defensemen Willie Mitchell and Nick
Schultz, faced Switzerland Wednesday , the
Canadians coming out on top 3-1. Former UW Badger
Dany Heatley scored twice, neither Schultz nor Mitchell
has a point in the tournament.
|
 |
Latvia defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 on Tuesday with former
Wild forward Sergejs Zholtoks netting the game-winner
on the power play. Latvia faces Canada on Friday.
|
 |
Thomas Vanek and Austria played Switzerland Tuesday
in IIHF competition. Vanek, the leading scorer
of the tournament with 7 points , had a goal and
an assist in the 4-4 tie. The Austrians
once again blew a multi goal lead in the third period,
this time allowing the Swiss to score three times, including
the game-tying goal with 22 seconds left in the third
period. Vanek is ranked third amongst all competitors
in the tournament in +/- with a +4. Also
playing for Austria is Oliver Setzinger whom Matt
Koalska may be competing with for a spot on the
Nashville Roster next season. The Austrians face
the home team Czechs on Friday.
|
 |
There is a nice profile of Vanek on the IIHF's World
Championships website here: http://live82.ihwc.net/english/article/spotlight/index.ihwc?&artId=1702
|
 |
Marian Gaborik scored twice for Slovakia in their 5-2
victory over Wild teammate Antti Laaksonen and Team
Finland on Wednesday. The victory gave Slovakia
first place in Group B. The Slovaks face off against
Russia on Friday in the Qualifying round.
|
 |
Ken Gernander scored a goal and an assist in the Hartford
Wolf Pack's 4-0 victory over the Portland Pirates on
Wednesday. The victory knocked the Pirates out
and gave Hartford the opportunity to play the Worcester
IceCats for the Eastern Conference title. There may
be a problem scheduling games between the two teams,
however, as the circus is in town in Worcester and as
soon as it leaves next week it moves to Hartford.
|
 |
After the Manchester Monarchs were eliminated from
the playoffs Adam Hauser became a free agent.
Despite losing to the Worcester IceCats Hauser showed
scouts two solid games with back-to-back shutouts.
Hauser, under contract with the Kings' AHL team, started
the year in the ECHL before earning steady work with
the Monarchs. The Kings have Roman Cechmanek,
Cristobal Huet and Matthieu Chouinard (club option
for next year) in the system. Both Hauser and
Milan Hnilicka are free agents. It is unknown
whether the Kings plan to offer Hauser or Hnilicka deals.
|
 |
Casey Hankinson scored a goal, his second of the
playoffs, just as a power play was expiring but
his Mighty Ducks fell to the Milwaukee Admirals
in overtime 4-3 Monday night. The Mighty Ducks
took a gamble and asked for a stick measurement on Ads
forward Vernon Fiddler with just over 7 minutes remaining
in the third period. Fiddler's stick proved illegal
but the Ducks were not able to convert on the resultant
power play, they were 0-5 on powerplay opportunities
on the night. Wyatt Smith earned an assist on
the first goal of the game by Tony Hrkac for the Admirals.
The best-of-seven series is tied at two games each.
|
 |
Tom Preissing is part of the San Jose Shark's top defensive
pairing with Brad Stuart. Preissing, an NHL rookie
who signed as a free agent with the Sharks, plays between
goalie Nabokov and the Sharks' top unit of Damphosse,
Marleau and Dimitrakos.
|
 |
Two of the best goalies in the Stanley Cup playoffs
this year are Mikka Kiprusoff of the Flames and Evgeni
Nabokov of the Sharks. Both are pupils of Minnesota's
Warren Strelow and work with him in the off-season.
|
 |
The Sharks shared hotel with the Minnesota
Timberwolves and Florida Marlins while in Denver.
All three teams were facing Denver's pro sports clubs
making their hotel "Enemy Central."
|
|
Quick Speculation:
|
 |
Don't rule out the Minnesota
Wild picking Slovakian defenseman Andrej Meszaros in this
year's entry draft. The 6'2" 189 pound
defenseman and hails from Dukla Trencin, the same team
that Marian Gaborik played with prior to joining the Wild.
He is strong on offense, reads plays well and is a
good power-play quarterback. He captained Slovakia
to the silver in the World Junior Championships and
is competing with Gaborik in Prague this spring; he is
the youngest player in the tournament. He is also
a right-handed shooter, something the Wild could also
use on the blueline. It is unknown whether he will
be around when Minnesota picks, but you can bet they have
their eye on him.
Buffalo is likely to begin negotiations with Thomas Vanek's
family advisors when the World Championships are complete.
Vanek has expressed a desire to continue playing for the
Gophers rather than spend time in the minors. He has,
however, admitted that completing his degree is not a
priority. |
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"I graduated from when I was 18 and went to the
University of Minnesota. I looked at a bunch of places,
and Minnesota just seemed like the best fit for me.
They have good coaches and players there, so it was
an easy decision. - Thomas Vanek on choosing the
U of M. (IHWC.net)
|
 |
"Their camp is in September and school starts
in September. If Buffalo gives me a fair offer, we'll
see about this year. I haven't heard from them yet."
- Thomas Vanek on possibly foregoing the remainder of
his college eligibility. (IHWC.net)
|
 |
"It's sure an exciting time. It's pretty neat.
It's my first experience with that and special, something
I'll treasure the rest of my life. Being in playoffs,
too, has been great. It's been awesome, the city, the
fans, all of Calgary has been absolutely great. She
looks a little like me, with reddish-brown hair. I did
fine. It was a neat experience. I wouldn't want
to have missed it. She doesn't have a jersey yet but
I think one's on order." - Jordan Leopold
on the birth of his first child, a girl, during the
Stanley Cup playoffs. (Calgary Sun)
|
 |
04.26.04
|
 |
Gopher forward Thomas
Vanek got four assists in the first day
of competition of the World Championships as his Team
Austria topped France 6-0 and led all skaters in point.
A good test for Vanek and his NHL prospects came with
Austria's second matchup against Canada on Sunday. Team
Canada is made up of players who all have NHL experience
and despite losing coach Joel Quenneville were expected
to dominate the Austrians. Quenneville was taken
to hospital Friday night for tests and evaluation for
what has been reported as "exhaustion" after
being unable to sleep for three days. Mike
Babcock has replaced Quenneville as bench boss for the
Canadians. However Vanek and his teammates stunned
the Canadians by jumping to a 2-0 lead after two periods
on Sunday, Vanek tallying the second goal of the game.
Wild foe Matt Cooke got Canada on the board with a shorthanded
tally when Austria made a bad line change just
over halfway through the third period and Dany Heatly
tied the game for Canada with just under five minutes
left in the game. The game ended in a 2-2- deadlock.
Wild forward Cristoph Brandner was named to the Austrian
team but was unable to participate due to injury.
|
 |
Marian Gaborik
had the game-winner in the first period as Slovakia
blanked Ukraine 2-0.
|
 |
Hardly anyone noticed but Gopher defenseman Keith
Ballard was a late addition to the Team USA blueline
in Prague. He was there in time for the US loss to Finland
wearing #31.
|
 |
Former Wild Forward Sergejs
Zoltoks (the Latvian spelling) didn't hesitate
to join his National Team in the World Championships
after Nashville was eliminated from the playoffs. He
opened the scoring for Latvia against Germany on Monday
as the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie and was named Player
of the Game for Latvia. Latvia dropped their opening
game against the Czechs 3-1.
|
 |
Antti Laaksonen
bested Wild teammate Richard
Park and Team USA as Finland won the first game
of competition in the World Championsips 4-2.
Laaksonen had a pair of assists, Park one assist.
No Minnesotans had a point in the loss. Matt
Cullen was a -1 with 2 PIMs, Hauer went even,
Westrum a -1 and Ballard even.
|
 |
The US faces a tough Slovakian team Monday in the tournament.
After Ottawa exited the playoffs Zdeno Chara. Marian
Hossa and Peter Bondra were added to the squad
that already included Marian Gaborik, Josef Stumpel,
Vladmir Orsagh, Miro Satan, Lubos Bartecko and Pavol
Demitra. In Group B both Slovakia and Finland
have one win, the Ukraine and US one loss each.
|
 |
Edina's Brett Hauer
was named an assistant Captain for Team USA.
|
 |
John Pohl will
have a chance to return to the Worcester IceCats lineup
as his club defeated Adam
Hauser and the Manchester Monarchs 6-1 on Saturday
winning their playoff series 4 games to 2. Hauser, who
has back-to-back shutouts in the series stopped just
11 of 16 shots on Saturday. IceCats captain Jeff
Panzer had a goal and a pair of assists and former Wild
forward Scott Pellerin scored a goal. Pohl suffered
facial injuries after taking a puck to the face in a
game just before the end of the regular season.
According to the Cats he is likely to return to the
lineup in the next round for Worcester. Mike Stuart,
however, remains out with a persistant groin injury.
Dan Welch did not play for the Monarchs. Worcester
will meet the winner of the Portland-Hartford series.
|
 |
A recent auction for a John
Pohl bobblehead given away at the last home game
of the season for the Worcester Ice Cats garnered $34
as the highest bid.
|
 |
Casey Hankinson's
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks earned a 2-1 series lead against
the AHL's best regular season team, the Milwaukee Admirals
by virtue of a 1-0 victory on Saturday, rebounding from
a 6-0 shelling Friday night. Wyatt
Smith has been scoreless for the Ads.
|
 |
The Chicago Wolves ended the run of Travis
Richards and the Grand Rapids Griffins in the race
for the Calder Cup in a four-game sweep. The Griffins
fell to the Wolves, helmed by former North Star Steve
Maltais, 8-2 on Saturday. Richards tallied a power-play
marker late in the third for the Griffins but it was
too little too late. Chicago moves into the Western
Conference semifinals.
|
 |
Ken Gernander
and the Hartford Wolf Pack jumped to a 3-1 series
lead over the Portland Pirates Sunday night. The
Pack dominated from the opening face-off scoring four
goals in the first, including a converted penalty shot.
Mike Pudlick had two goals and an assist but it wasn't
enough for the Pirates as Hartford won 5-3 as the
game ended in unpleasantries with 7 players earning
game misconduct penalties with less than a minute remaining.
Sunday's game saw Captain Gernander play his 60th
playoff game for Hartford tying the Wolf Pack record
held by Brad Smyth, it was also his 105th career
AHL playoff game. It was a nice follow-up to game two
on Friday night when the Pack were victorious in double
overtime winning 2-1.
|
 |
Apple Valley's Justin
Eddy signed with the Washington Capitals and
was assigned to Portland to practice with the AHL Pirates.
Eddy played 4 seasons with Quinnipiac 4-6-3 with a 2.52
goals-against and .924 save percentage this season.
Eddy was a two-time Honorable Mention All-State pick
at Academy of Holy Angels in 1998 and 1999 and
was a two-time All-Conference selection. He led
Holy Angels to the Section 5 championship in 1998-99
and was a four-year letter winner in baseball and hockey.
|
 |
Ryan Kraft and
the Bridgeport Sound Tigers played game seven against
Toby Petersen
and the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins on Sunday. Kraft
registered an assist on the Tigers' first goal of the
game in the first. The Pens went up one until the Tigers
scored again in the third to tie the score at 2 which
is where it stayed until the end of regulation. Pens
forward Konstantin Koltsov scored at 11:05 of the first
overtime period to send Kraft and the Tigers home
for the season, securing the 3-2 victory. Luke Curtain was
scoreles for the Tigers and Petersen pointles for
the Pens. Dieter Kochan, who last year helped the Houston
Aeros win the Calder Cup took the loss for Bridgeport.
|
 |
Karl Goehring
and the Syracuse Crunch were crunched themselves by
the Rochester Amerks 6-0. Rick Mrozik was a +2
for Rochester. Joe Motzko, Mark Hartigan and Tim Jackman
were all shut out by Amerk goaltender Tom Askey with
Motzko going -3.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"Our main objective before the game was to play
a trap game and stay solid defensively" - Thomas
Vanek on his Team
Austria's plans for facing Canada in the IIHF World
Championships. (Henrik Lundqvist)
|
 |
"You're always hoping to win, but these were two
very even teams, so I would say it was a fair result.
The problem for us is now we have to win our next game." Sergei
Zholtok on the
Latvian/German matchup in Prague (Lukas Akroyd
- IHWC.net)
|
 |
"We're going to have to go into Bridgeport. We'll
have a lot of fans there and it will be a good atmosphere,
but they have home-ice advantage. We don't have a lot
of experience with game 7, but we've faced elimination
for two games. They're facing elimination for the
first time. It's old hat for us." - Wilkes/Barre-Scranton
Penguins forward Toby
Petersen before
going into Game 7 against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers
in the Calder Cup playoffs. (TimesLeader)
|
 |
04.23.04
|
 |
Tim Conboy of
St. Cloud State has signed with the San Jose Sharks.
Tim flew into Cleveland to join the AHL Barons
for the playoffs but he hasn't played a game since being
eliminated by the Gophers so will not likely see any
game action.
|
 |
Kevin Constantine's
Everett Silvertips lost 4-3 victory to the Kelowna Rockets
Thursday night. With the win, the Rockets take a 3-1
series lead in the Kal-Tire Western Conference Finals.
|
 |
Ryan Kraft and
his wife Angie welcomed thier first child, 7 pound,
20 inch Kayla Nicole Kraft into the world Monday
at 4:54 am. Congratulations to the lucky couple!
|
 |
Three companies were vying for management rights to
the new Wells Fargo arena and facilities in Des Moines,
Iowa. The three companies were Global Spectrum,
part of Comcast; SMG, a joint venture between Hyatt
and ARAMARK and Iowa Sports & Entertainment, a group
affiliated with the Minnesota Wild. According to Bill
Robertson, VP of Communications and Broadcasting for
Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, "MSE and
Des Moines Hockey LLC entered into a 120 day exclusive
negotiating period out of which no formal letter of
intent was developed." Robertson also added,
"We are very happy with our current primary developmental
affiliate franchise in Houston which we own and operate."
Iowa Sports & Entertainment "didn't have the
depth of experience that a Global or SMG or Compass
proposals had," said Carl Hirsh, a sports industry
consultant hired by the county. Polk County supervisors unanimously
approved Gobal Spectrum as the managing group for the
facility on Thursday. (some info from Des Moines
Register)
|
 |
Howard Baldwin
wants back into hockey and he's planning on doing it
with the dormant Louisville Panthers AHL franchise and
moving them to Des Moines. Global Spectrum has
already entered into an agreement with Baldwin for
him to place an AHL franchise at the Iowa Events Center's
Wells Fargo Arena. Chicago, Dallas and Calgary
are all looking for an AHL team to house their prospects.
Logistically it would be more beneficial to see Des
Moines become the primary affiliate of Chicago as there
is sufficient media overlap to enable cross promotion
and develop fan loyalty and recognition of players.
|
 |
The WHA is moving full steam ahead for next season
with seven franchises. The ownership groups are represented
by the following individuals or groups: Jean Paul Boily
Quebec; Gino Naldini-John Marshall Toronto;
Rick Munro-Ricky Smith Vancouver or Dallas; Jay
PatelDetroit (Pontiac); Dan Krusz-Tim Lovell
Miami; John Tyson-John Marshall - Halifax; Mario Frankovich
Hamilton. The WHA has also stated they
are close to an agreement with a franchise group
in Montreal. Advanced lease negotiations are proceeding
in the following venues: Le Colisée Pepsi in
Quebec; SkyDome in Toronto; either GM Place in Vancouver
or Reunion Arena in Dallas; the Silverdome in Pontiac,
Michigan; Miami Arena; and the Metro Centre in Halifax.
In the case of Hamilton, representatives of Copps Coliseum
have terminated late stage negotiations, alleging notice
from the Hamilton Bulldogs exercising their right to
exclusive use of the building. The WHA is in the process
of referring the matter to the Competition Bureau of
Canada. (WHA)
|
 |
Aaron Gill,
the captain of Notre Dame, signed a PTO and played six
games with the Cleveland Barons after being eliminated
from the NCAA tournament by the Gophers. Gill has agreed
to terms with the Sharks but has returned to Notre Dame
to finish school.
|
 |
With the Binghamton Senators knocked out of the AHL
playoffs former Gopher Captain Grant
Potulny has returned to finish his classes at
the U of M and will graduate in May.
|
 |
The Chicago Wolves are one game away from knocking
Travis Richards'
Grand Rapids Griffins out of the playoffs. The Wolves
have won three straight games in the best-of-seven series.
|
 |
Casey Hankinson's
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks topped the best team in the
AHL, the Milwaukee Admirals 5-4 in overtime in the opening
game of the series Wednesday night. The series pits
Hankinson against former teammate Wyatt Smith, who scored
a power play goal for the Ads in the second period.
|
 |
The Hartford Wolf Pack led by Ken
Gernander evened their series against the Portland
Pirates at one game apiece with a 1-0 victory on Wednesday.
Gernander earned an assist on the only goal of
the night scored in the first period by Josef Balej.
|
 |
Karl Goehring
got his first start for the Syracuse Crunch and stopped
32 shots Wednesday night for the 3-2 win in game three
of their series against the Rochester Amerks.
Mark Hartigan scored a goal and Tim Jackman had an assist
for the the Crunch who hold a 2-1 lead in games.
Joe Motzko was scoreless on the night for Syracuse and
Rick Mrozik had three shots on goal and no points for
the Amerks.
|
 |
The Worcester IceCats finally found a way to solve
Adam "Brick Wall" Hauser Thursday night, but
it took them more than two overtime periods to do it.
In a game that lasted 4 hours and 31 minutes Worcester
posted a 3-2 win over Manchester on Thursday night to
take a 3-2 series lead in their Atlantic Division semifinal
series. Hauser had blanked the Cats the Monarchs' two
victories and was greeted by Worcester fans with a standing
ovation but Brendan Brooks put home a rebound six minutes
into the third overtime to give the Cats the win. Former
Wild forward Scott Pellerin tallied one of the Cats
goals, assisted by Jeff Panzer. Pellerin was later ejected
after receiving an agressor game misconduct for roughing
up Pavel Rosa. Both John Pohl and Mike Stuart
remain out of the Cats lineup with injuries. Pohl, however,
is likely to return should Worcester make it to the
next round.
|
 |
Ryan Kraft's
Bridgeport Sound Tigers dropped game five to Toby
Petersen's Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins in overtime
2-1. Kraft tallied an assist on the first goal of the
night. Luke Curtain was held scoreless for the
Monarchs. Toby Petersen
had no points and had three shots on net. The Sound
Tigers lead the East Division best-of-seven semifinal
series, 3-2.
|
 |
The USHL Danville Wings will relocate to Indianapolis
for next season. The Wings lost more than $500,000 last
season, according to owner Lou Mervis, who made the
losses known in a statement announcing the team's move.
This is the first time since the 1987-88 season that
Indianapolis will not be home to professional hockey
since the Indianapolis Racers, and an underage kid named
Gretzky, came to the city. The USHL sends
more than 100 players annually to NCAA Division I colleges,
the most of any league in the world. The USHL has also
produced more than 500 professionals, including 40 in
the NHL this past season. (Indianapolis Star)
|
Quick Speculation: |
| |
Don't think that the heartless effort
of American players on the Dallas Stars in their 5-game
playoff series against Colorado didn't get the notice
of Team USA officials entreatied with the task of assembling
the squad to defend its World Cup title this fall.
Mike Modano and Bill Guerin looked terrible and
showed little willingness to sacrifice in order to beat
the Avs. That doesn't bode well for their chances with
Team USA Head Coach Ron Wilson and GM Larry Pleau.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"The guy is a lunatic. What worried me is
he had a cult-like attraction for him. I have
never in my history seen anything like that. The kid
totally did everything that Frost said. It was shocking."
- Sarnia Sting
co-owner and brother of Dino, Rob Ciccarelli, on Mike
Danton's agent David Frost.
|
 |
He obviously had a big impact on the game. He stayed
ready. He stayed positive. He had a good experience
from last year, and it paid off for him." - Colorado
head coach Tony
Granato on Darby
Hendrickson's first game of the playoffs. (Denver Post)
|
 |
"I'm not a hero. This club has a lot of depth.
You've got to contribute when you can, everybody did
in this one. We didn't sit back on our heels. We've
played on our toes." Darby
Hendrickson on
his play and that of his Colorado Avalanche as they
knocked off the Dallas Stars on Saturday. (Denver Post)
|
 |
"He came here knowing that if he got into any
trouble on or off the ice, he'd be let go right away.
There would be no talking, no change of plans. He
knows that he is going to have to get himself in the
right emotional state to be a good citizen. He did help
us in his time here when we were short with injuries.
He worked hard for the team, but he did break the team
rules." - Houston
Aeros GM Tom
Lynn on Billy TIbbetts
(Houston Chronicle)
|
Quick Take: |
 |
St. Louis Blues forward
Mike Danton has been arrested by the FBI on charges of
conspiracy to commit murder. The Blues and the hockey
community have all reacted with great surprise.
Danton, who changed his name from Jefferson, reportedly
to distance himself from family difficulties of the past,
has been shuffled around the league and has throughout
his short career shown signs of social and mental problems.
The New Jersey Devils and Lou Lamoriello were witness
to this behavior and distanced themselves from Danton
by trading him to St. Louis.
The St. Louis Blues saw only Danton's on-ice abilities
and what he could provide the team during games.
That is the biggest tragedy of all. Because the
signs of Danton's difficulties were there all along, but
overlooked time and again because he could play hockey.
Danton agent David Frost, who has contributed to the emotional
state of the player, has said that he needs counseling.
Danton acknowledged he needed professional help and asked
for it but someone decided to wait until the Blues' hockey
season was over before doing anything to help the struggling
player; once again putting hockey before the benefit of
the player.
Now after he is arrested for conspiring to kill an acquaintance,
said to be his agent, stories of Danton's problems
off the ice have been magnified. All his teammates
and people in the hockey community are now expressing
shock and concern and offering support for Danton.
If anyone, and most specifically Blues GM Larry Pleau,
or his agent David Frost, had truly cared about the health
and well being of Danton they would have been able to
see a pattern of violence and depression and offered the
support at a time when it would have done the most good,
before the most recent incident.
Unfortunately the hockey community let down one of its
own again. They saw the player for his talent and
tried to convince themselves that he had overcome his
troubles by being given a chance to play in the NHL.
But instead they most likely contributed to the mental
breakdown of Danton culminating in his arrest last week.
It is now too late to help Danton who is facing jail time
for his actions, but perhaps this incident will wake up
the hockey world that they need to take responsibility
for helping their own, even if it means putting the player
ahead of the game for a change. |
 |
04.21.04
|
 |
Jordan Leopold
and the Calgary Flames advanced to the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals
by virtue of their overtime victory against the Vancouver
Canucks. Leopold has been called upon to take a greater
role on the blueline due to injuries to Dennis Gauthier
and Tony Lydman. The Hobey Baker winner tallied an assist
on Jarome Iginla's power-play goal midway through the
third period. That was close to being the game-winning
goal until Iginila tripped over his stick with seconds
left to play in the game, springing Matt Cooke who tied
the score with 5.7 seconds in regulation. Martin Gelinas
tallied the game-winner less than two minutes into overtime
to send the Flames to the next round where they will
face the Detroit Red Wings.
There is a nice profile story of Leopold currently
on nhlpa.com. In it Leopold is said to want to
coach when his playing career is over.
|
 |
Thomas Vanek
and his Austrian team will face Team Canada first on
Sunday in the opening game of the IIHF World Championships.
Contrary to reports out of Austria Vanek has not begun
negotiations with Buffalo, maintaining his NCAA eligibility, and
in all recent indications are that he will
return to the Gophers for one more season.
|
 |
The University of Minnesota Men's Hockey class of 2004
have founded their own summer hockey camp. Back-2-Back
Players Camp features instruction from Grant Potulny,
Joey Martin, Jon Waibel, Matt Koalska and Troy Riddle
with special guest Paul Martin. Week-long camps
run June 7 through July 2 for boys and girls at pee-wee,
mite and squirt levels. The camps will be held
at Fogarty Arena in Blaine, St. Thomas Academy Arena
in St. Paul and Braemar Arena in Edina and include on-ice
instruction in skating, passing, shooting and stick-handling
and off-ice chalk talks and plyometric excercises.
St. Thomas Academy sessions will include weight training
with a certified University strength coach. Sessions
start at $200 and include an autographed camp jersey.
For more information send an email to mart0989@umn.edu.
|
 |
Paul Martin
will not be joining Team USA for the World Championships
because he is having surgery for a minor ankle injury.
|
 |
Going into Tuesday night's game the Worcester
IceCats have dropped seven of their last nine
postseason outings at their home ice Centrum Centre,
and were 0-3-3 this year against Adam Hauser.
Hauser pitched a shutout against Worcester in Sunday
night's AHL matchup, his first AHL playoff start at
the Centrum Centre and Tuesday's result wasn't much
different. Hauser got his second straight shutout
against the Cats, stopping 17 shots to remain undefeated
against Worcester. Against the Blues' farm
team Hauser has a goals against average of 1.52, and
save percentage of .943. Dan Welch has
been a repeated healthy scratch. The series is
now tied at two games apiece. John Pohl and Mike Stuart
remain out of the Worcester lineup with injuries.
Pohl will skate for the first time since the injury
tomorrow. A team spokesman said that if the Cats
find a way to solve Hauser and move on it is likely
Pohl will return to the lineup.
Hauser picked a really good time to play the part of
a brick wall. Not only was Andy Murray, LA Kings
coach, in attendance, but so too was Larry Pleau, GM of
the St Louis Blues, LA Kings GM Dave Taylot, AHL President
Dave Andrews, NHL executive Rick Dudley, and Blues assistant
Keith Allain. Look for Hauser to get a renewed contract
with the Kings next season and if there is an NHL season,
a shot at a big-league recall. (some info from Worcester
Telegram & Gazette)
|
 |
Ken Gernander's
Hartford Wolf Pack dropped the opening game of
their series against the Portland Pirates
on Tuesday night 3-1. Gernander got the only tally for
the Pack shorthanded midway through the second period.
THe Pack pulled goaltender Jason LaBarbera to go for
the tie but the Pirates scored into the empty net to
give them the insurance goal and the victory.
Mike Pudlick missed the game for the Pirates with the
flu.
|
 |
On Monday morning at 4:54am Ryan
Kraft and his wife welcomed a new baby girl into
the family. On Tuedsay night he scored twice for the
Bridgeport Sound Tigers as they beat the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton
Penguins 4-2 to take a 3-1 series lead in the East Division
semifinal. Toby Petersen of the Penguins was held
without a point in the game.
|
 |
With the Canucks' loss it is very likely that Edina's
Brian Burke, General Manager of the Canucks, will not
see his contract renewed with the team. It's the
third time in four years Vancouver has been knocked
out in the first round, they made it to the second round
last year only to lose on home ice to the Minnesota
Wild in Game 7.
|
 |
The Eisbären Berlin was upset by the Frankfurt
Lions in the DEL Championships last weekend. The
Lions defeated the Polar Bears 3-4 in game 5 of the
best-of-five series to claim the title. Bears
players included Minnesota's Kelly Fairchild, former
Minnesota Moose Yvon Corriveau and several ex-NHL and
IHL players. Frankfurt was coached by Rich Chernomaz
and captained by Paul Stanton who won two Stanley Cups
with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ian Gordon was the
hero for Frankfurt, stopping golden chances by Fairchild
and Corriveau to hold Berlin at bay and claim the deciding
game.
|
 |
After legal trouble a mediocre performance this season
former Moose Corriveau is expected to retire and return
to his home in Canada.
|
 |
Gopher coach Don Lucia
is attending a Coaching Conference this week.
|
 |
On 4/21/2000 Chris
Kenady scored four goals and assisted on two
others as Hartford
beat Springfield, 7-2, in the deciding Game 5 of their
conference quarterfinal in the AHL. (AHL)
|
Quick Facts Exclusive: |
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"We only lost a single game at home in the playoffs.
But a good team also has to get a win on the road. We
didn't have luck on our side. We played very well in
Game 1, but played pretty bad in Game 2. We bounced
back in Game 3, but Frankfurt got some lucky bounces.
They were the better team in the first two periods tonight."
Eisbaren Berlin head coach
Pierre Page
on losing the DEL championship to the Frankfurt Lions.
(prohockey.de)
|
 |
"It's not like we limped into the playoffs, barely
earned a spot and are going to have to change things
if we're going to go anywhere. I think we're comfortable
with the personnel we have in the room and comfortable
with the systems. Now the biggest thing is to bring
that playoff element to our game, some of the intangibles
such as intensity and the things you associate with
what makes playoff hockey so special." - Ken
Gernander on his
AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. (Hartford Courant)
|
 |
"Its been said so many times before, but
you have to work hard every day and you cant give
anything less than your all each time you take a shift.
Each time you play, you have to expect more and want
more. - Calgary
Flames defenseman Jordan
Leopold (NHLPA.com)
|
 |
04.15.04
|
 |
Paul Martin
scored his first career playoff goal for the Devils
on Monday night. With the Devils on the power
play Martin skated in from left point to attack a loose
puck in front of a scramble in the crease and snapped
a backhander past Robert Esche at 4:55 of the second
period to tie the score 2-2. It was his only shot
of the game. The Devils went on to win 4-2 with Martin
also getting his first playoff assist on the Devs final
goal, also on the power play. Unfortunately Martin
didn't get the puck as a souvenir of his first playoff
tally, no one grabbed it for him. According to Martin,
he had no idea he'd be playing this much. Martin is
now averaging over 20 minutes a game and is part of
the top defensive pairing with interim Captain Scott
Niedermayer, plays the point on the power play and is
called upon to kill penalties.
|
 |
Jeremy Roenick
scored the first goal of the game for the Flyers at
8:49 with Martin in the box for interference. Martin
had two minor penalties all season long, with only one
being costly. He has been in the box twice for
the Devils during the playoffs, once has it cost the
Devs a goal.
|
 |
Erik Rasmussen
was moved to center in Monday's game to place him into
a head-to-head matchup with the Flyers' Keith Primeau.
Rass was much heralded for the work he did to contain
Primeau, who had been a human wrecking ball in the first
two games of the series. The move also freed up
the Deviled EGG line of Elias, Gomez and Gionta, to
score three goals in the game. The EGGs had previously
been contained by the Flyers' physical captain.
|
 |
John Pohl has
been on a terrible unlucky streak after a slow start
to the season Pohl struggled to rediscover his scoring
touch with the IceCats. When it looked like he had,
he was clubbed in the face with a stick by an opponent
and knocked out of the lineup again with a jaw injury.
Returning from that injury Pohl once again was on a
hot streak going into Johnny Pohl bobblehead night on
Saturday in Worcester. At 4:41 of the second period
of the game Pohl was struck in the face by a Jon Coleman
slap shot. Pohl reportedly was on the ice for
several minutes and needed to be helped to the bench
after leaving a pool of blood on the ice. The
only good luck for Pohl seems to be that he wears a
visor which deflected the impact of the puck.
According to IceCats PR Manager Mike Thornton, the impact
of the puck drove Pohl's visor into his face, creating
a marked line from the edge of the shield, and
causing the bloody nose. The former Gopher
was at practice on Tuesday but did not skate.
His left eye is swollen and black & blue like
Rocky Balboa, said Thornton, though there were no obvious
lacerations Pohl was scheduled to visit two specialists
Tuesday, an opthalmologist and a specialst to evaluate
facial Xrays for damage. It is unlikely official
word will be released as to the exact diagnosis considering
the norm during the playoffs. Pohl is expected
to miss games, though his time out of the lineup
is indeterminate. Pohl and the IceCats were to
start the best of five qualifying round of the playoffs
against Adam Hauser and the Manchester Monarchs on Thursday.
The Worcester Ice Cats have had terrible luck on bobblehead
promotion nights, when Terry Virtue's doll was released
he was also knocked out of the lineup with an injury.
|
 |
Ben Clymer of
the Tampa Bay Lightning and Darby
Hendrickson and Kurt
Sauer of the Colorado Avalanche were all healthy
scratches on Monday night.
|
 |
Tom Preissing
played just over 14 minutes for the Sharks on Monday,
taking one shot on goal and earning an even rating despite
San Jose's 4-1 loss against the Blues. He mirrored that
ice time on Tuesday and had a +1 rating as the Sharks
skated past the Blues 4-3 to take a 3-1 series lead.
|
 |
On average, a regular-season hockey game, excluding
player salaries, costs $210,569 per team, according
to an NHL study. Teams spend about 23 percent more for
the playoffs, and each of the 105 postseason games last
year cost about $258,427 per team. (Dallas Morning News)
|
 |
Dan Hinote played
almost 15 minutes but was held without a shot or a point
for the Avalanche in their 4-3 overtime loss to
the Dallas Stars on Monday. He went even on the
night.
|
 |
Former Minnesota Moose goaltender and fan favorite
Parris Duffus
is a firefighter in Fort Wayne, Indiana and plays for
the firefighters' hockey team where he plays both goalie
and forward. His teammate is a fellow former IHL player
Kelly Hurd. Duffus has 4 goals and 4 assists in 3 games
as forward this season according to the Fort Wayne Firefighters
website.
|
 |
Ken Gernander
was named the AHL's Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award for
sportsmanship before his game with the Hartford Wolf
Pack on Sunday. Following the game he was also named
the Bob Girouard Character Award and the Fan Favorite
Award and is the WolfPack's nominee for the AHL man
of the year award in recognition of community service.
Gernander scored the game-winning goal, on the power
play, over the Providence Bruins in the regular
season finale for the WolfPack. Gernander ripped a low
slapper to seal the victory with just over 5 minutes
remaining in the third period.
|
 |
Center Brad Tapper,
one of the leading scorers for the Binghamton Senators,
will be out for the remainder of the season after suffering
a third concussion in a year, his second in less than
a month. Tapper's absence provides Grant Potulny
a greater chance to play for the Sens. Bingo starts
the playoffs tonight against the Norfolk Admirals.
|
 |
Josh Langfeld
was sent down from Ottawa to help out the B-Sens
Langfeld had been a healthy scratch for Ottawa the last
three games. Josh went to Ottawa management to
ask to play in Bingo. He wanted to help team and Coach
Paddock. It was his idea to make the request
and he made the decision to join his AHL teammates
and left Ottawa on Tuesday. However, Ottawa has
only 2 recalls left on any player so if Langfeld goes
back to Ottawa after playing with the B-Sens now, there
will be only 1 recall remaining which Ottawa could use
if Binghamton bows out of the playoffs early or in
the event of injury with the O-Sens.
|
 |
It isn't exactly a deal with the devil but it is close.
The Houston Aeros, the AHL franchise owned by the Minnesota
Wild, have signed a secondary affiliation agreement
with the Dallas Stars, yes those Dallas Stars.
The Stars will place at least three players with the
Aeros next season.
|
 |
Gord Dineen
who spent parts of two seasons in the late 80s with
the North Stars had his jersey retired by the Utah Grizzlies
with whom he played his final seasons of professional
hockey before retiring in 2000.
|
Quick Facts Exclusive: |
 |
Last week the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks shut out the
Houston Aeros 4-0 in the second to last game of the
regular season. After enduring a season of what
he characterized as "dirty play" by Eric Reitz
that escalated during the dominant game by the Ducks,
Casey Hankinson decided to drop the gloves against the
prospective Wild defenseman.
According to Hankinson, when the fight was over and
they were rolling on the ice they both tried for a few
extra face washes and eye gouges after which Hankinson
said he tried to just hold Reitz' hands away from
his face until the refs broke things up. It was
at that time the former Gopher said he felt the Aeros
defenseman bite down on his finger.
Hankinson said he didn't think much of it at the time,
especially as Reitz fell awkwardly after the fight was
broken up and was apparently hurt. It wasn't until
unlacing his skates that the Ducks Captain noticed blood
and realized that Reitz' bite pierced the skin.
Hankinson reported the incident but the linesmen moving
in to break up the pair blocked any view of what
happened on game tape so no disciplinary action is likely.
Casey didn't require stitches but did have to take a
full course of antibiotics to prevent infection from
the bite.
In response to Hankinson's allegations the Houston Aeros
stated that Hankinson jumped Reitz, instigating
the fight, and that during the skirmish, Reitz tied up
Hankinson and Hankinson cut himself on Reitz's
teeth. Reitz has claimed that he did not
bite Hankinson.
The incident should make for an interesting best-of-three
qualifying playoff series between the two teams.
They meet again beginning Thursday in Houston.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"We obviously know that the Primeau line is going
to be matched up against the Gomez line as much as possible.
If we can take that away and lay some hits on [Primeau],
that kind of opens up the game for Scotty and Patty
a little bit." Erik
Rasmussen on his
role for the Devils. (Bergen Record)
|
 |
"You hate to put yourself in a position of thinking
like that. Obviously when you're in the box and they
score, you feel bad. You have to come out and play a
little better." - Paul
Martin after Jeremy
Roenick scored with Martin in the box and then scoring
himself on a Devils power play. (Star Ledger)
|
 |
"It was very nice. It's pretty neat to represent
this group because I'm very proud of them." -
Captain Ken
Gernander on winning
several awards for the Hartford WolfPack. (Hartford
Courant)
|
 |
04.12.04
|
 |
Neither Sean Hill
nor Craig Johnson
were able to participate in this spring's IIHF World
Championships in Prague due to previous obligations.
Brett Hauer and Matt Cullen are currently the only Minnesotans
named to the squad. Richard Park and Ryan Malone will
also participate. Bret Hedican is still an option
for the team on the blueline.
|
 |
Ben Clymer was
a healthy scratch for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their
3-0 victory in the opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs
against the New York Islanders.
|
 |
Darby Hendrickson
has been a healthy scratch for the Colorado Avalanche
in both their Stanley Cup playoff games against the
Dallas Stars.
|
 |
Some Golden Gopher men's hockey players with hospitality
industry experience could make guest bartending appearances
at Harvey's Bar & Grill in Minneapolis this summer.
|
 |
Erik Rasmussen
and Jamie Langenbrunner
showed no signs of recent injuries that kept them out
of practices for the Devils. Rasmussen was perhaps one
of the best players for the Devils in their 3-2 defeat
at the hands of the Flyers
|
 |
Paul Martin
played over 25 minutes for the Devils in his Stanley
Cup playoff debut. He was paired with interim captain
Scott Neidermayer. Martin was a -1 with two shots
on goal in the first game.
|
 |
In game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs the
Flyers scored their first goal while Neidermayer and
Martin were on the ice. Both defensemen tried
to shoulder blame. "I know he's going to put it
all on himself," Martin said. "But I was with
a guy behind the net and then went with the play and
got trapped in the corner, when I should have gone back
to the net." Neidermayer countered "[Martin]
has handled himself very well," Niedermayer said.
"I just want to do my job out there. It was just
a little bit of a split-second decision and I got caught
too far over when I should have been protecting the
net." (Star Ledger)
|
 |
Jason Blake
was supposed to miss a month with a high ankle sprain,
but could be back as early as today, two weeks after
suffering the injury. With a history of coming back
quickly after being hurt, the high-energy winger will
try out the ankle this morning before any lineup decisions
are made. (NY Post)
|
 |
The National Hockey League named the St. Louis Blues'
current "retro" marketing and advertising
campaign as the League's Outstanding Club Marketing
Campaign for the 2003-2004 season. The honor marks
the second time in three seasons the Blues have won
the League's top club marketing award. The "Bleed
Blue" campaign won the inaugural award in 2001-2002.
Runner-ups for the 2004 Award included: the Minnesota
Wild's "Team of 18,000"; Phoenix Coyotes'
"A New Breed"; the Atlanta Thrashers' "Are
You True Blue?" and the Toronto Maple Leafs' "Leafs
Nation." The Blues' retro campaign featured
a humorous 1960s spoof, using graphics and language
from that decade to promote affordable ticket prices
and communicate a value-driven message. The approach
was selected following the club's decision to reduce
ticket prices in many areas of Savvis Center at the
start of the season. (St Louis Blues)
|
 |
Tonight is John Pohl
Bobblehead night in Worcester, Mass! (Image courtesy
of Worcester Ice Cats)
|
 |
Grant Potulny
was credited with five shots on goal in his second AHL
game with the Binghamton Senators but the Sens were
shut out by the Norfolk Admirals 3-0. The loss
means that the Sens need to win tonight to clinch a
playoff berth.
|
 |
In what turned out to be a playoff preview the Cincinnati,
Mighty Ducks posted a 4-0 win over the Houston Aeros.
Since San Antonio lost in Grand Rapids both clubs clinched
their playoff positions and will face each other in
the first round. Ducks captain Casey
Hankinson tallied an assist on the 4th goal.
He also received an instigator penalty, fighting major
and 10-minute misconduct at 13:51 of the third period
for dropping the gloves with Houston's Eric Reitz. Reitz
is purportedly one of the dirtiest players in the league,
a careless young player. During last night's
tussle Reitz, a highly touted Wild prospect, bit
Hankinson, not quite imitating Mike Tyson, but close.
(Image Courtesy of Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, photograph
by Rick Middaugh)
|
 |
Former North Dakota Fighting Sioux Curtis
Murphy now with the Milwaukee Admirals has been
named the winner of the Eddie Shore Award as the AHLs
outstanding defenseman for the 2003-04 season, as voted
by AHL players and members of the media in each of the
leagues 28 cities. (theahl.com)
|
 |
Former St. Cloud State teammated Joe
Motzko and Mark
Hartigan are now teammates again and roomates
while playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"It all starts with him. He is vocal in his own
way and if something needs to be said in the room, he
gives it to us. On the ice, he leads by example. And
he stays positive, which you have to do at this time."
- Paul
Martin on blueline
partner and current Devils captain Scott Neidermayer.
(Star Ledger)
|
 |
"Obviously this was a frustrating season. I came
off a good playoffs and had a pretty good start to this
season and then there was the injury. It's been a battle
for a while. Unfortunately, that's hockey. I'd be lying
if I said the knee wasn't a factor, whether mental or
physical. That's the one part of the body you feel with
everything you do. I think I'm just getting over it."
- Jamie
Langenbrunner on
just hitting his stride with the Devils. (Star Ledger)
|
Quick Speculation: |
 |
Some have predicted Mike
Modano to be chosen captain of the USA World Cup
squad this fall. Modano, however, has crumbled under the
pressure of the "C" this season with the Stars
and allowed his off-ice difficulties to erode his game.
His Dallas Stars are down two games to the Colorado Avalanche
in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and don't
look to be ready to play. Team USA will likely be
looking elsewhere to a leader capable of shouldering the
load. Look for Jeremy Roenick to get the nod for the USA
World Cup captaincy. |
 |
04.06.04
|
 |
Beginning in 2006, women will have a world junior championship
similar to their male counterparts. That was the word
from the IIHF on Saturday at this year's World Women's
Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (eurohockey.net)
|
 |
The USA Women once again advanced to the Gold Medal
round of the IIHF World Championships, facing Canada
yet again, tonight at 7pm ET. Cammi Granato, sidelined
with an injury earlier in the tournament returned to
the ice for the game against Sweden and had two assists.
The US defeated Sweden 9-2. Natalie Darwitz tallied
her second hat trick of the tournament, Krissy Wendell
had a goal and an assists and Jenny Potter had
a goal and an assist and was named USA Player of the
Game.
|
 |
Brett Lievers
scored a goal in overtime in game five to lead his Kärpät
team to the Finnish Elite League finals against Mikko
Koivu and TPS Turku. TPS and Kärpät were the
favorites after regular season.
|
 |
By virtue of their performance to date in the IIHF
Women's World Championships the US Women have secured
a berth to the 2006 Olympics in Turin. The top
four ranked teams in the 2004 IIHF World Womens
Ranking get an automatic entry to the 2006 Olympic Winter
Games. Host Italy (pre-determined ranking 8) will get
a direct entry to the Preliminary Round while the remaining
three teams will be determined following the Olympic
Qualification Tournaments in November 2004. Canada and
USA, currently first and second in the IIHF World Ranking,
also secured Olympic participation after winning Group
A and Group B respectively. (Eurohockey.net)
|
 |
Employees in the Calgary Flames front office have been
warned that their work week will be cut to three days
and their salaries slashed by 40 percent. The Edmonton
Oilers set up a program to help their staff find
additional work or new jobs entirely once the team cuts
back to a four-day work week. And the Toronto Maple
Leafs have promised their personnel pay cuts of
between 25 and 35 percent.(ESPN.com)
|
 |
When asked if the Minnesota Wild had any contingency
plans in place for their personnel in the event of a
work stoppage next season, Bill Robertson, Vice President
of Communications said that the all official statements
must come from the NHL and that the Wild cannot discuss
CBA labor issues. "At this time, it is business
as usual for the Minnesota Wild organization. We are
preparing for the NHL Entry Draft, summer hockey camps,
the World Cup of Hockey and other hockey-related matters"
said Robertson.
|
 |
Rookie defenseman Paul
Martin and Tom
Preissing cannot be reassigned to the AHL next
season in the event of a lockout without first having
to clear waivers and it is a certainty that neither
would. By virtue of their age and the number of
games they played this season they must first clear
waivers before being sent to either Cleveland or Albany,
the farm clubs of the Sharks and Devils respectively.
Several teams held rookies out of the lineup down the
stretch so they did not reach the games-played threshold,
but Martin and Preissing proved too valuable to sit.
|
 |
The Kevin Contantine-coached Everett Silvertips are
down two games to one against the Vancouver Giants in
the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series
between the Major Junior teams.
|
 |
Scott Meyer
who abruptly retired from professional hockey this March,
leaving the Charlotte Checkers with whome he now holds
several goaltending records, will be the St. Cloud State
goaltending coach next season. Meyer's retirement was
attributed to his desire to be home with his wife and
4-year-old son being more than his desire to stay with
the minor league game in hope of a return to the AHL
or eventual NHL call-up. He now back in Minnesota and
is working with Wealth Spring Mortgage in St. Paul.
|
 |
Two St. Cloud State Husky womens' hockey players will
be the feature of TLC's A Makeover Story. They began
filming last week and the episode will air later this
fall. There are far too many Gopher fans who will
relish the chance to make fun of that.
|
 |
Matt Hendricks
made his professional hockey debut with the Milwaukee
Admirals on Saturday. He went pointless on the
night but had one minor penalty.
|
 |
Wyatt Smith
returned to the Ads' linuep Saturday after bring out
with an injury and scored a goal, his 7th of the season
with Milwaukee. Smith and the Ads beat Casey
Hankinson's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 4-2.
|
 |
Casey Hankinson
was named Mighty Ducks winner of the American Specialty/AHL
Man of the Year award for his outstanding contributions
to the greater Cincinnati community and charitable organizations
during the 2003-04 season. He volunteered make
community appearances at schools, libraries and sponsor-related
events and helped coordinate player appearances as well
as being involved in several charitable events, including
"Evening With The Mighty Ducks" and "Get
Fed By The Ducks" which helped raise in excess
of $20,000 for the American Cancer Society and Special
Olympics. Hankinson will receive an crystal trophy in
recognition of his efforts during an upcoming home game.
He is also the Ducks' nominee for the Yannick Dupree
Memorial Award honoring the overall American Specialty/AHL
Man of the Year. (Cincinnati Mighty Ducks).
|
 |
The signing of Matt
Hendricks and recently Richard Stehlik could
affect whether former Gopher Matt
Koalska joins the Admirals or Predators this
spring. Milwaukee already has an abundance of spare
players so that playing time is sparse.
|
 |
San Diego left wing and St. Paul native Brian
Gornick is the InGlasCo ECHL Player of the Week
for March 29-April 3. The 24-year-old Gornick scored
three game-winning goals, eight points (4g-4a) and was
+5 while helping San Diego go 4-0-0 to clinch the Brabham
Cup, the trophy awarded annually to the regular season
points champion in the ECHL.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"The argument that there would be a significant
loss of fan base from not having a season is exaggerated.
In markets like Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota, fans
would line up for miles to see that first game and I
don't think it would affect us much either."
- Carolina Hurricanes'
GM Jim Rutherford speaking on possible fan erosion due
to an NHL work stoppage. (ESPN.com)
|
Quick Take: |
 |
The NHLPA reportedly
offered a reduction in player salaries, a reduction
in the maximum rookie salary and bonus structure and a
greater revenue-sharing model in its proposal to the NHL
for a new CBA. The NHL has proposed a firm salary cap
in their proposals, according to news reports. There
appears to be no willingness on either side to trek up
to the middle ground; instead the NHL and NHLPA remain
firmly entrenched in their positions.
The sides, it seems, cannot seem to agree upon financial
figures, though there is a consensus that the league's
revenue-to-salary percentage is too high. News reports
have the NHLPA disputing a recent NHL-commissioned report on
the league's finances. They have said that there is a
failure to account for millions of dollars in revenue
in the Levitt report.
When you begin nitpicking over figures like $50 million,
basically the multi-year contract value of one star player,
you also start on the path of alienating fans, if you
haven't already done so. How many hockey fans would rather
never see a Mike Modano or a Keith Tkachuk ever play another
game of hockey if it meant that all 30 National
Hockey League teams would play a complete season next
year? You'd find few who would opt for hanging onto
the overpaid stars.
Hockey fans have seen ticket price increases over 50%
in the last two decades. They have watched star players
get rich while they pay more, and have seen reduction
in the goals and entertainment value of the game. Why
exactly should hockey fans care whether hockey players
make $10 million or $5 million a season when they're working
two jobs to pay for $5,000 season tickets?
The NHLPA and NHL need to stop playing games with each
other and refocus on the game itself. They need to remember
that their audience isn't the media but the fans who pay
them. |
 |
04.04.04
|
 |
Though the Dallas Stars had fought hard to get the
2006 NHL All Star Game for their American Airlines Arena,
the Phoenix Coyotes' new facility will play host instead.
Dallas had originally wanted the 2005 mid-season spectacular,
but withdrew the bid over fears there wouldn't be a
game next year with the impending labor woes.
Atlanta is scheduled to host next year if there is an
All Star Game. Phoenix' new facility in Glendale
is very similar to the Xcel Energy Center, considered
the model NHL building. The big difference?
The Glendale arena has free parking. The Coyotes
won only five of 28 games in the $220 million building..
|
 |
Jeff Taffe returned
to the Coyotes' lineup for their season finale. He had
been a healthy scratch for 4 games. The Coyotes weren't
disappointed in his performance, rather they were trying
to keep him from reaching the threshold for rookie eligibility
to be reassigned to the AHL in the event of a work-stoppage
next season. Players above the threshold may not
be able to be reassigned, a disasterous proposition
for teams trying to maintain development of their prospects.
|
 |
While Jon Waibel
was drafted by a UHL club, the Quad Cities Mallards,
don't look for him to sign a pro contract this summer.
The former Gopher is likely ready to hang
up the skates.
|
 |
Matt Koalska
may sign yet this season as both the Nashville Predators
and Milwaukee Admirals are in the post-season.
Negotiations are reportedly underway.
|
 |
Steve Martinson's
San Diego Gulls have won the Brabham Cup, the trophy
awarded each season to the regular season point champion
in the ECHL. San Diego finished with 108 points and
a 49-13-10 record.
|
 |
Tim Jackman
was reassigned to Syracuse after the Columbus Blue Jackets
finished their regular season. The Crunch still have
a week remaining in their season and still may make
the Calder Cup playoffs.
|
 |
The Worcester IceCats clinched a Calder Cup playoff
berth in an 8-2 rout of the Lowell Lock Monsters on
Sunday. John Pohl, who has been hot since returning
from a jaw injury, had three points including a pair
of goals scored in less than three minutes.
|
 |
Former Denver netminder Wade
Dubielewicz of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers has
been named the winner of the Dudley Red
Garrett Memorial Award as the AHLs outstanding
rookie for the 2003-04 season, as voted by AHL players
and media in each of the leagues 28 member cities.
|
 |
Wild prospect Christoph
Brandner was suspended two games by the AHL as
a result of a match penalty he received while playing
for the Houston Aeros in a March 27, 2004 AHL game
versus San Antonio.
|
 |
The NJ Devils set an NHL record allowing only 164 goals,
the fewest allowed in an 80-game plus season. St. Louis
had the oldmark, 165 in 1999-2000. They captured the
Jennings Trophy as a result. (AP)
|
 |
Paul Martin
finished his first NHL regular season with 6 goals,
18 assists a +12 rating and only 4 PIMs. Two of his
goals were game-winners and 10 of his points came on
the power play. He played all but 12 games this season
and hasn't missed time since before the All-Star break.
|
 |
The Nashville Predators will compete in the Stanley
Cup Playoffs for the first time in their history. That
means that former Wild players Jeremy Stevenson, Sergei
Zholtok and Brad Bombardir will have another chance
at the trophy. Zholtok and Bombardir, however, have
been repeated scratches for Nashville.
|
 |
Buffalo Sabres center Daniel Briere became the first
player since Cloquet's Derek
Plante in 1996-97 to play a full season in Buffalo
and outscore Miroslav Satan. Briere won Buffalo's 2003-04
scoring title with 28 goals and 37 assists for 65 points.
Satan led the team with 29 goals but had 28 assists,
his third fewest with the club. (Buffalo News)
|
 |
Don't think Sabres' staff wouldn't want to see Thomas
Vanek skating with Briere, Satan, Chris Drury,
JP Dumont, Ales Kotalik and Jochen Hecht next season,
if there is one.
|
 |
Venerable linesman Ray
Scapinello skated his 2,500th and last regular-season
NHL game April 2nd. His first game was the Buffalo Sabres
against the Minnesota North Stars in Buffalo on
Oct. 17, 1971. Scapinello holds the NHL record for regular-season
games officiated, including referees. He is tied for
second in playoff games with 406. He has skated in 19
Stanley Cup finals series. (Buffalo News)
|
 |
Trent Klatt
signed a three-year deal with the LA Kings this summer.
He became the only member of the Kings to play all 82
games this season. Ravaged by injury, the Kings' end-of-season
11-game losing streak took them out of playoff contention.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"It was sore. It was a mutual decision to sit.
No sense in going into the playoffs hurt."
- Devils' forward Erik
Rasmussen on sitting
out the season finale against the Bruins with an injured
knee. (Newark Star Ledger)
|
 |
''We should be looking at the Carolinas, Minnesotas
and Anaheims, because going into the playoffs, no one
gave them a chance. There's always a Cinderella
team, so why not us?'' -
Nashville PRedators coach Barry
Trotz on his club
making their first-ever trip to the playoffs. (Nashville
Tennesseean)
|
 |
"There's always one or two teams every playoff
that step up and defy the odds, that capture people's
imagination because they're considered underdogs. Look
at Anaheim last season. And Minnesota. Where's the law
that says the we can't be one of those teams this year?''
Dennis Gauthier
of the Calgary Flames (Calgary Herald)
|
 |
"Every Canadian seems pretty knowledgeable. When
I go back to Minnesota some people don't understand
the logic of the game as much as Canadian fans."
- Calgary Flames
defenseman and former Gopher answering an online question
about what he thinks of Canadian fans. (calgaryflames.com)
|
 |
"It was certainly strange [what happened],"
said right wing Trent Klatt, the only King to play all
82 games. We battled through a lot of adversity through
the season and then ran out of gas. The last couple
of weeks have been very hard on everybody. It hasn't
been an easy thing to digest." - Trent
Klatt of the woeful
circum-stances this season for his LA Kings. (LA Times)
|
 |
03.31.04
|
 |
Paul Martin
is going to be buying another dinner for a teammate.
Earlier in the month he hit teammate Brian Gionta in
the face with a slap shot in a game against Tampa Bay.
Again this weekend against the Islanders Martin's powerful
shot struck a teammate. Turner Stevenson was the victim
this time. Stevenson left the game, likely to ice the
foot that endured the shot, but returned later.
|
 |
Both Erik Rasmussen
and Jamie Langenbrunner
have missed practices and games for the Devils lately.
The official word from the Devils that they were both
getting time off to "rest." Rasmussen was
slightly injured in a fight, a minor neck twinge,
while Langenbrunner may have aggravated a knee injury
that kept him out of the lineup earlier in the season.
Both were expected in the lineup against the Rangers.
|
 |
Wild prospect Derek
Gustafson is 27-13-0 and ranks second in the
ECHL with a 2.04 goals against average.
Alaska-Anchorage's Cam Keith signed a tryout agreement
with the Hartford Wolf Pack, he became just one of the
patchwork lineup Ken
Gernander has had to lead. Due to injuries
and call-ups the Pack even signed former BU netminder
Ari Shocket, who hadn't played professionally for 5
years, to an emergency contract.
|
 |
The top-seeded Berlin Eisbären are only one win
away from the finals in the DEL playoffs. Pierre
Page's team is up 2-0 on ERC Ingolstadt in the
best-of-five series. Taking a page from Jacques Lemaire's
book Page said "I'm rotating goalies in the playoffs
for the first time in 32 years." Kelly Fairchild
continues to score for the Caps, leading the team in
scoring.
|
 |
Former Minnesota Moose gnat Andy
Schneider leads all skaters in the DEL playoffs
with 9 points for the Hamburg Freezers.
|
 |
Dan Bjornlie is
signed with Kölner Haie of the DEL through the
2006 season.
|
 |
The reason Zach Parise
signed with the Devils is rumored to be less about the
money and more about his game. Parise felt he was
ready to make the jump to the pro game rather than
return for another season in the WCHA. It has been
reported that Parise's contract has a signing bonus
in the $900,000 range and he will be paid $600,000 if
he plays in the NHL and $50,000 if in the AHL. Though
he could play with the Devils, who are in need
of some offensive help, his most likely destination
eventually, at least for a time, is Albany.
|
 |
Shjon Podein
has returned to his home in Minneapolis after playing
most of the previous season in Sweden in the Allsvenskan.
|
 |
Matt Hendricks
of St Cloud State has signed a tryout contract with
the Nashville Predators and was assigned to the Milwaukee
Admirals.
|
 |
Look for Troy Riddle
and perhaps Matt Koalska
to be tapped to play for Team USA in Prague at the World
Championships this spring. Both excel on the larger
surface and could be assets with their skills in International
rules, which are similar to college rules. Craig
Johnson is almost a sure bet to represent his country
and Trent Klatt is also likely now that the LA Kings
have been eliminated from playoff contention.
|
 |
As for the immediate professional future of the five
Gopher seniors, teams sometimes sign college athletes
whose seasons are over, to tryout contracts for
the remaining games of the season and playoffs.
Nate DiCasmirro
from St. Cloud State is one player who signed right
away after his Huskies bowed out of the NCAA playoffs.
He played a few games for the Oilers' AHL affiliate
under the tryout contract and signed a full contract
for them next season.
Matt Koalska
may be headed for Milwaukee for the last few games of
their season, but they may play him selectively, if
at all, as the Admirals are at the top of their
Division and Conference and few teams mess with the
chemistry of well-performing clubs in the playoffs.
Wyatt Smith was recently reassigned to Milwaukee by
the Predators as well.
Troy Riddle could
end up in Worcester playing with former linemate John
Pohl in the IceCats' fight for the Calder Cup.
Grant Potulny
would be playing Bingo, if he signed a contract with
the Senators' AHL affiliate in Binghamton. The Norfolk
Admirals have already signed Jeff Miles from Vermont
to an amateur tryout but Blackhawks Assistant General
Manager Dale Tallon said they are undecided on whether
to sign Joey Martin.
Blake Wheeler of
Breck is currently ranked 46th overall by NHL Central
Scouting.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"``You don't want to be looking over your shoulder.
You want to be looking ahead to the playoffs. At this
point in the season, you can't help but look at the
standings and who's behind you and who's in front of
you.'' - Mark
Parrish on his
Islanders' fight to move up the standings going into
the playoffs (AP)
|
| |
"I want our fans clear on this. I think this is
a great game. I don't think a handful of incidents should
change that fact. It's a wonderful game. It doesn't
need a complete overhaul"
- Vancouver Canucks GM Brian
Burke responding
to comments made by Ken Dryden. (CP)
|
|
Quick Correction:
|
 |
In an earlier Quick Facts exclusive story on the
WHA in Minneapolis Glen Taylor was said to be involved
with Grit Rock Ventures. He is not. The only employee
of the firm is currently Jac Sperling. It has
been speculated that Sperling may work with Glen
Taylor in acquiring the Vikings and may use Grit Rock
for those purposes, which is where the confusion derived.
I apologize for any inconvenience the misinformation
may have caused.
|
 |
03.25.04
|
 |
Every NHL contract signed by rookies has an area called
"A" bonus clauses, which include six categories:
Goals, assists, points, ice time, plus-minus and points
per game. Achieving set marks in these categories
can trigger millions in additional income for entry
level players whose salary is capped. Doug Risebrough
of the Minnesota Wild uses team achievement along with
individual statistics to determine qualification for
bonuses. It is largely accepted that Joe Thorton's contract
with the Bruins set a new mark for entry-level rookie
contracts because of the extensive bonus clauses.
Paul Martin and
Tom Preissing,
both rookie defensemen, can in all liklehood expect bonus
payouts this season. Categories they have likely met
criteria in include ice time and plus-minus and
perhaps points.
Curtis Glencross routinely delivers big checks. Now,
he'll also be cashing big checks. The punishing, goal-scoring
winger, who just completed his sophomore season at UAA,
on Wednesday signed a three-year contract with the NHL's
Anaheim Mighty Ducks that will be worth at least $1
million and perhaps as much as $2.55 million. He signed
his contract at the Kinko's at the corner of Northern
Lights Boulevard and Lake Otis Parkway and faxed it
back. Several teammates were with him at the time.
His agent (then just a family advisor) Ben Hankinson
was contacted by representatives of the Ducks, Wild,
Rangers and Leafs during the WCHA Final Five last weekend
all with interest in the power forward. UAA's coaches
jokingly gave Glencross the nickname "Boo Boo''
this season because Glencross' physical play also left
him with an assortment of aches and pains. Now, Boo
Boo is going bye-bye. (Anchorage Daily News)
|
 |
Ben Clymer of
the Lightning has been a healthy scratch off and on
as of late. He has played only five out of the last eight
games for the Bolts. He may be in the lineup tonight
against fellow former Gopher Paul Martin and the New
Jersey Devils. Both players wear #7 on their sweaters.
|
 |
In a recent jersey auction held by the UHL Rockford
IceHogs, Dave Paradise's sweater garnered $1,600 and
Chris Paradise's went for $1,200. All proceeds
from the Auction went to benefit the local MDA Chapter
in Rock River Valley.
|
 |
Though undrafted by an NHL team, in the recent UHL
amateur draft, Jon Waibel
was chosen in the second round by the Quad City Mallards.
The Mallards, known to have an affinity for Minnesota
college players also chose Ryan LaMere and Colin Peters
of St. Cloud State and Beau Geisler of UMD.
|
 |
Jeff Antonovich
scored a hat trick on March 20th against the Richmond RiverDogs
of the UHL. He plays for the Kalamazoo Wings. Antonovich
has 7 goals and 4 assists in 15 games for the K-Wings
and holds a shooting percentage of 24.1. Antonovich
began the season with the Macon Trax of the WHA2.
|
 |
Also playing for the K-Wings is former Gopher Pat
O'Leary who has 15 goals, 19 assists in 46 games
and has 65 penalty minutes. He has a shootout percentage
of .25.
|
 |
The Hockey Company has signed an agreement to be the
exclusive supplier of on-ice equipment for the AHL.
A similar deal was signed with the ECHL last year. The
Hockey Company, with brands such as Jofa and CCM, will
be the official provider of sticks, helmets, gloves,
pants, jerseys and socks to 26 AHL teams. This edges
Mission, a Naegele company, out of the market, but they
can still make inroads with their skates.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
"This is a league where you can knock someone's
block off with a clean bodycheck, and to me that's payback
rather than using a stick or a knee or an elbow."
- 16-year NHL veteran
Tom Fitzgerald
of the Toronto Maple Leafs (CP)
|
 |
"We need a complete, thorough, ambitious and fundamental
review of all aspects of the game and we need it now."
- Ken Dryden
on the state of the NHL (CP)
|
 |
"Today is a day of jubilation over one of our
players signing a professional contract. I think it's
great for Curtis, but it also tells kids they can play
for us, and be scouted and be noticed. I'm thrilled
for him, Curtis wanted to be a professional hockey player
when he set foot on our campus. He has fulfilled a dream.
If Anaheim is patient, I think they're going to be very
happy with him.'' - UAA
coach John Hill
on Curtis Glencross signing with the Anaheim Mighty
Ducks. (Anchorage Daily News)
|
 |
"I have no memories of here. Seriously, you always
remember it. Any time you get hurt, you remember where.
I remember Scotty's (injury during the playoffs) here,
too. It's one of those things you have to get over mentally.
It's like a baseball player who gets beaned. The next
couple of times, he's still thinking about it and he
doesn't want to stand in there."- Brian
Gionta when asked
about his memories of the Devils' last visit to Tampa,
when he was hit in the face by a Paul Martin slap shot.
(NJ Star Leger)
|
|
Quick Speculation:
|
 |
Look for Junior Lessard, Zach Parise
and Keith Ballard
to be the three finalists for the Hobey Baker award.
|
 |
03.22.04
|
 |
Troy Riddle
moved ahead of Grant
Bischoff for 11th place on the Gopher career
goal scoring list. He needs one goal to tie Peter
Hankinson for 10th all time.
|
 |
Travis Richards
is the Captain of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.
He is the only remaining member of their inaugural team.
The Griffins play in Utah while the his alma mater battles
for a berth in the Frozen Four in his home rink.
The Griffins are battling the Milwaukee Admirals for
the top spot in their division. The Admirals assistant
coach is Travis' brother Todd, another former Gopher.
|
 |
Erik Westrum
scored his first NHL goal against the Detroit Red Wings
on Thursday, securing a 1-1 tie for the Coyotes who
have been held winless in 15 games. Westrum is getting
an opportunity to showcase his talents with the Coyotes
eliminated from playoff contention. He is seeing time
on the PK and PP units.
|
 |
Josh Olson reassigned
to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL by the Florida
Panthers.
|
 |
The Finnish Elite League playoffs have begun. The second
round of playoffs will be a best of seven between TPS-Blues,
Kärpät-Jokerit, HIFK-Ilves and HPK-Lukko.
Mikko Koivu's TPS and Blues played eight times against
each other in the regular season.
|
 |
Aaron
Fox & TJ Guidarelli will not play for HC Tirol
Innsbruck next season. They joined the club after their
German team SC Reissersee went out of business.
|
 |
Dan
Bjornlie is playing for the Cologne Sharks in the
DEL. He has a two-year contract.
|
 |
Don't look
for any NHL players, unless they are German, to play in
the Deutche Eishockey Liga next season. Owners of
the clubs recently voted to not allow contracts to NHL
players because of the 11-player import rule. Teams can
have a maximum of 11 non-German players on their rosters,
but if that player leaves or becomes injured, they cannot
replace him. Because the possiblity exists that the NHL
will end any work stoppage midway through the season,
the teams decided the risk was not worth taking.
|
 |
Derek
Plante finished with 6 goals and 16 assists in
39 games with Mannheim Adler this season. That ranked
him 87th overall in league scoring.
|
 |
Kelly
Fairchild finished with 20 goals and 23 assists
in 42 games with Eisbaren Berlin this season. That was
good for 14th overall in scoring in the DEL.
|
 |
Former Moose
Andy Schneider finished
16th in scoring in the DEL with 16 goals and 27 assists
in 52 games.
|
 |
Matt
Henderson finished with 11 goals and 12 assists
in 51 games with Iserlohn Roosters.
|
Quick Quotes: |
 |
There'll be about 100 friends
and family (at that game)." -
Erik Westrum
on his first appearance in Minnesota as a pro. (Arizona
Republic)
|
 |
"It's exciting
to be on the bench, whether it's this rink or wherever.
But my daughters will be at the (Minnesota) game, and
I'm kind of fired up for them to be able to look down
and make the connection." -
Tom Kurvers on being
behind the bench with the Coyotes when they face the Wild
in St. Paul. (Arizona Republic)
|
 |
"The main
thing was playing time. After an injury like that, both
me and coach (Don Lucia) thought the best thing for me
would be ice time. Where we were at and how deep we were,
we weren't too sure how much ice time I'd get. It was
a mutual decision that the USHL was the best place for
me." - Former
Gopher and Wild draft pick Mike
Erickson on why he
left the U of M. Erickson will attend Western Michigan
next season. (bucshockey.com)
|
|
Quick Speculation:
|
 |
Look for Junior Lessard, Zach Parise
and Keith Ballard
to be the three finalists for the Hobey Baker award.
|
 |
03.20.04
|
 |
Mark Parrish
and Matt Cullen,
former teammates at St. Cloud State University both
scored goals in the Panthers-Islanders game last night.
Parrish scored for New York, Cullen for Florida but
it was Cullen's Panthers that were victorious by a score
of 6-4. The victory keeps slim playoff hopes alive
for the Panthers as they moved within 7 points of the
Islanders. With nine games remaining NY holds
the 8th playoff spot.
|
 |
Former St. Cloud State standout Steve
Martinson has been suspended 5 games as head
coach of the San Diego Gulls of the ECHL as a result
of administrative violations of the league's salary
cap. He also received an undisclosed fine for the violation.
Martinson will miss San Diego's vs. Fresno (Mar. 19),
at Fresno (Mar. 20), vs. Bakersfield (Mar. 21), vs.
Long Beach (Mar. 23) and at Idaho (Mar. 26). The ECHL
is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the salary
cap to ensure compliance and to protect the interests
of all ECHL members. Monitoring is conducted on an ongoing
basis and sanctions are handed down from time to time.
Sanctions are made public only in those instances where
coaches, executives or employees are suspended. (ECHL)
|
 |
After six seasons in which the price of season tickets
has doubled, the Edmonton Oilers are contemplating cutting
the cost of season-ticket packages for the 2004-05 NHL
season. Pending approval by the team's board of directors
at a meeting, the Oilers are expected to announce reductions
in packages that could be as high as five per cent next
week (Edmonton Journal)
|
 |
Greensboro General Geno
Parrish ranks second among ECHL defensemen with
49
assists.
|
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Tim Jackman
was reassigned to the AHL Syracuse Crunch from the Columbus
Blue Jackets. He has played 17 NHL this season with
1 goal, 2 assists and 12 penalty minutes with a -5 rating.
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Jake
Riddle, younger brother of Gopher senior Troy
Riddle finished the season with 18 goals,
22 assists and 156 penalty minutes with a -20 rating in
63 games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL.
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Kevin
Constantine has lead his expansion Everett Silvertips
to the CHL playoffs, They host the Spokane Chiefs in the
first round. The Silvertips enjoyed a record setting year
as Everett set WHL and CHL records for most wins and points
by a first year club. Backed by the number two ranked
penalty kill unit in the WHL, the Silvertips captured
their first U.S. Division title.(CHL)
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The Minnesota
Wild have likely been fielding numerous ticket requests
for family members of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes visit
the X to take on the Wild on Monday and bring with them
Jeff Taffe, Erik Westrum
and Tom Kurvers.
David Tanabe, also
a member of the Coyotes, is out for the season with a
knee injury.
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03.16.04
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Former Gopher Charley
Wasley made it to the semifinals of the Red Bull
Crashed Ice competition at Spirit Mountain last month.
He was in the same semifinal heat as eventual first
place champion Jasper Felder and third place finisher
Hroboje Applet so they eliminated him from reaching
the finals. Last year Wasley placed fourth in
the ice cross event.
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Friday's Avalanche/Coyotes game had a decidedly Minnesota
flavour. Playing for the Avs were Darby
Hendrickson, Kurt Sauer and Dan
Hinote. Hinote returned to the lineup for
the first time in over a month after suffering a concussion
during a game. The Phoenix roster featured Erik
Westrum and Jeff Taffe with Tom Kurvers behind the bench
with David Tanabe in the stands in street clothes still
on injured reserve for the Coyotes.
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Erik Westrum
played his fourth NHL game and saw his ice
time increase dramatically, up to 18:36, more than fellow
Gopher Jeff Taffe who was on the ice for only 17:42.
Westrum also got his name on the scoresheet getting
his first two penalty minutes in the NHL, a two-minute
roughing call at the end of the second period.
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With one goal and three assists in Friday's game against
St. Cloud Troy Riddle
moved ahead of Erik Westrum for 13th place on
the Gopher all time career point list. He ties Jeff
Nielsen for 14th place in career goal scoring and into
23rd place in career assists.
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Matt Koalska's
goal moved him into a tie with Todd Okerland on the
Gopher points list.
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Quick Quotes: |
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"He wants to play. It's tough not to play when
you're a competitor and you're healthy." -
Gopher coach Don Lucia on Ryan Potulny's decision to
return to the Gopher lineup instead of taking a redshirt
for his freshman season.
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"It feels awsome! It is nice to be able
to produce right away." - Gopher
freshman Ryan Potulny on scoring his second and third
goals of his Gopher career in Friday's game.
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"This time of year if you don't play well, you're
done" - Gopher coach
Don Lucia
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"I should have had
that one, the goalie came out of nowhere!" - Gopher
senior Matt Koalska on his shot for a second goal on a
yawning net in Friday's 6-1 win over St. Cloud.
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"Jeeze, tomorrow could be the last game at Mariucci as
seniors. It's a little emotional." - Troy
Riddle on the final home game he will play
as a Gopher.
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Quick Takes:
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Detroit prospect Jiri Hudler used an ethnic slur
against Quebecquois Simon Gamache in an AHL game and
was ejected from the game and later fined by the league.
The slur against French-Canadians is used commonly
in hockey circles and Hudler, a native of the Czech
Republic, likely didn't know that it is the equivalent
to that slur popularized in the US South for
African-Americans. It is time for coaches at
all levels involved with players of all ages,
and that includes the North American professional
teams, to take control and educate their players
about this particular slur. Most everyone is now
outraged when a slur is used toward African-Americans,
it is time for us to feel the same about the slur
toward French-Canadians. It is just as degrading
and has just as much negative impact upon those it
is used.
While much was made of the NY Rangers search for a
goaltender for a late playoff run they may already
have what they need in their own farm system.
Jason LaBarbera has an AHL record 12 shutouts on the
year (10 was the previous mark) and as a team,
his Hartford Wolf Pack, lead by Captain Ken Gernander,
have 15 total shutouts this season, also an AHL record.
LaBarbera is 23-7-7 this season and has a 1.44 GAA
and .939 Save Percentage. LaBarbera was selected by
the Rangers in the third round of the 1998 NHL Entry
Draft, 66th overall. Hartford is unbeaten in its last
seven games going 6-0-1-0 and outscoring the
opposition 19-5.
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