Wednesday, August 19, 2009

More Frattin.

There has already been some speculation on who the Sioux will bring in to fill the roster spot void left by Matt Frattin being kicked off the Fighting Sioux hockey team for his DUI arrest earlier this morning.
On early Wednesday morning, he was stopped by a campus police officer on North Columbia Road for speeding, UND police captain Don Rasmuson said. The officer smelled alcohol and a subsequent test put Frattin’s blood-alcohol level at .12 percent, Rasmuson said. The legal limit is .08 percent.
UND Fighting Sioux hockey team beat writer Brad Schlossman seems to think it will be Corbin Knight, which would make sense after the eye popping numbers he put up in juniors. Corban Knight is one kid I am really excited about seeing in a UND Fighting Sioux uniform. Unfortunately this isn't the way I thought it would happen.
I'd expect that Corban Knight will get the call, though. Here are a few reasons:

*NHL draft status isn't much of a factor. But for what it's worth, Knight is the highest-drafted, committed forward in juniors. The Florida Panthers took him in the fifth round in June.

Knight played against a high level of competition last season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and was outstanding. He was the leading rookie scorer in the league and the seventh overall scorer in the AJHL. All six guys who had more points than him -- including UND's Carter Rowney -- will be in college in 2009-10.

Knight is physically ready. His testing results at the NHL Combine prove that. He ranked second in pushups, third in endurance, fourth in upper-body power and ninth in pull strength among the top 100-plus draft-eligible players.

Being a human being in a way I can kind of feel some empathy for this kid, however, the other part of me says you’re an adult and when you make bad choices you pay the consequences for these horrible decisions. That life and human are imperfect and make bad decision, well all do, but how many chances does a person need?

The University of North Dakota did the right thing by kicking Frattin off of the team and will move on from this incident. I hope this sends a message to the other players that might be thinking about making bad life choices. Nothing good happens late at night. It’s also not a birth right to play for the Fighting Sioux it’s a privilege and the University doesn’t need anymore bad press. If you screw up you might lose that privilege.

Let’s face facts; UND is a high profile hockey program and playing for UND can open up many life opportunities for the hockey players that do what it takes to get to the next level, it takes hard work and dedication. If your screwing around late at night you might want to question your dedication.

I understand these are young college students but you’re twenty one years old is considered an adult age, in Canada and the USA you can vote and you can serve in your countries military, most of us would pay severe consequences if we had done the same thing Mr. Frattin did this summer. I know I would lose my job. Like coach Hakstol said after the first incident earlier this summer, ‘most of our guys are working hard for the upcoming season.’




BallHype: hype it up!

7 comments:

  1. Driving drunk is a huge deal, and clearly Matt didn't seem to think so.

    Can I make this any clearer? (Not trying to imply you are excusing it, Goon, just trying to say it ANY chance I get.)

    DRIVING DRUNK IS NEVER OKAY. NEVER. EVER. EVER. EVER. EVER.

    I have NO sympathy for him. The lawn mower incident was dumb but I chuckled at it and rolled my eyes. This is totally different.

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  2. I agree Donna Drunk driving is not good. I think that UND made the right decision here.

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  3. Sucks for Frattin. That whole "being an idiot" thing really cuts into people's style.

    Maybe he trades to the Senators and spends time under Dany Heatley's wing?

    (too soon?)

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  4. For his sake,I hope he turns it around. As a 12 year old, even I am smart enough to agree with RunningWithTheDogs. - Skippy

    ...Having said that, Call him jelly cuz he's a on a roll!

    Do you think there would be a market for t-shirts that read Frickin' Fratten in your area?

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  5. never too soon to make fun of Dany "murderer" Heatley

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  6. Yeah, Charlie. I'm a skippy.

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  7. Donna, I don't think you're a skippy.

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