Quotes from day one of the Ice Breaker Tourney

Image via WikipediaHere are some of the quotes from day one of the Ice Breaker tourney.

This is what first year head coach Tom Anastos had this to say about his Michigan State University Spartan after their loss to the Boston College Eagles.

“I thought our guys showed a good energy level to compete, you know we certainly made our share of mistakes and against a team of this caliber they usually end up in our net and they did. There were definitely a number of good things that we can take away from the game but you know we have a long way to go."

"I think we have to make sure for sixty minutes we make good decisions all over the ice. At times tonight we did make good decisions and at other times we made some bad choices and made it easier to play against us. So we have to be a hard team to play against for sixty minutes we weren’t all night tonight.”

Boston College Eagles Head Coach Jerry York had to say this after his team beat the Spartans 5-2.

“For our club we haven’t had an exhibition game, it was our first real opportunity to play a game we say a lot of positive signs. One of which was [Parker] Milner who looked very self assured in the net and I think that half the battle with goaltender he made some key saves, he just looked his poise is improved his confidence level is improved. That’s certainly a big plus for our team.

State battled, it was a hard, two - one and they tied it two – two. Chris Kreider he has just become such a force for us and we call it a run of day light and he comes down and cuts across and he is hard to stop he is 225 pounds, he’s strong. Having said that I think State is a good club and I think we have a good club it’s early so we will see how it plays out.”

This is what Fighting Sioux junior forward Corbin Knight had to say about the game against the Air Force Academy Falcons and their rough second period.

“It was just a combination of things; we were playing a little bit of pond hockey out there, we weren’t really playing Sioux hockey. So, guys were running around we just weren’t moving our feet and playing Sioux tough. We knew we needed to make a few adjustments and we were able to make those in the third and we had a strong third. So it was a good learning experience for us.”

This is what Fighting Sioux Head Coach Dave Hakstol had to say about last night’s third period against the Falcons.

"I thought Air Force was doing a really good job early in the period we didn’t get a whole going. You know everything, any possession we had was perimeter, the shift we had with [Mario] Lamoureux, [Carter] Rowney and one of their line mates turned the tide of that period at bit, they got a puck to the net, they jammed a couple of pucks to the crease they seemed to create a little momentum for us. We needed to find a way to generate some momentum after a pretty soft second period."

This is what coach Hakstol had to say on playing the Boston College Eagles in the Championship game of the Ice Breaker Tourney.

"For this early in the year, you know what are we are playing our second game of the year. It’s going to be a fun game; there is a lot of importance on the line, for us we first of all look within our dressing room and make sure that we are improving in a lot of the little areas. You know I said coming into this year we have to build depth and build experience. Hopefully we took a real small step towards that tonight and we have to do the same thing tomorrow."

Predictions for October 7-8 2011

Image via WikipediaThis season I will be doing weekly predictions along with Sioux7 and Alex. I must admit that I am not good at making predictions and I have been blamed for jinxing other fan’s teams in the past. My selections will be bolded.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Non-Conference
Notre Dame at Minnesota-Duluth 7:07 CT
Bemidji State at Miami 7:35 ET
Sacred Heart at Minnesota 4:07 CT
Northern Michigan at Wisconsin 7:07 CT
American Int'l at Michigan Tech 7:07 ET
Minnesota State at Rensselaer 7:00 ET

Ice Breaker
Air Force vs. North Dakota 7:00 CT
Michigan State vs. Boston College 4:07 CT

Maverick Stampede
Mercyhurst vs. Nebraska-Omaha 7:37 CT
Robert Morris vs. Colgate 7:07 CT

Kendall Hockey Classic
Alaska vs. St. Cloud State 5:07 AT
Clarkson at Alaska-Anchorage 7:07 AT

Exhibition
U.S. Under-18 Team at Denver 7:07 MT

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Non-Conference
Sacred Heart at Minnesota 7:07 CT
Bemidji State at Miami 7:05 ET
Northern Michigan at Wisconsin 7:07 CT
American Int'l at Michigan Tech 7:07 ET
Minnesota State at Rensselaer 1:00 ET
Notre Dame at Minnesota-Duluth 7:07 CT

Ice Breaker
Boston College vs. North Dakota 7:07 CT
MSU vs. Air Force 7:37 CT

Maverick Stampede
Colgate vs. Nebraska-Omaha 7:00 CT
Mercyhurst vs. RMU 7:37 CT

Kendall Hockey Classic
St. Cloud State at Alaska-Anchorage 7:07 AT
Alaska vs. Clarkson 4:07 AT

Exhibition
U.S. Under-18 Team at Colorado College 7:37 MT

Analysis - Sacred Heart at Minnesota – When I look at this series on paper, I wonder if the Gophers are trying to rack up wins against the weak sisters of the poor. That being said, the Golden Gophers should win both games but the Gophers can’t look past Sacred Heart. Sweep Minnesota.

Notre Dame at Minnesota-Duluth – this should prove to be an interesting match-up because it's a rematch of their Frozen Four game from last spring. The Irish will probably be looking for some revenge. The Bulldogs have played six games since 2002 and have gone 2-2-2. Prediction split.

Bemidji State at Miami – The BSU Beavers and the MU RedHawks have played twice in recent history with the Beavers winning the last game 3-2 at the Subway Classic in Grand Forks, ND during the 2009 season. This season's match-up at least on paper doesn’t look very good and the Beavers probably wont surprise the RedHawks again this time around. Miami Sweeps.

Northern Michigan at Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Badgers have had some success against the Wildcats as of late and own a 4-2-1 record the last seven games against the Wildcats but this isn’t your daddy’s Wisconsin Badgers hockey team. The Badgers enter the season with three goalies with no college hockey experience. what-so-ever.  That being said, I am going with a sweep for the Wisconsin because the Badgers while minus some good players from last season’s team still has a strong nucleus of  returning player that will turn some heads this season.  Also, Badgers coach Mikes Eaves seems to get the most out of his players.  Sweep Wisconsin.

American Int'l at Michigan Tech – Mel Pearson makes his head coaching debut against the AIC Yellow Jackets (8-24-1 2010-11) another team that had a tough season last year.  The Michigan Tech Huskies started last season on five game unbeaten streak before they went on a horrible streak where they didn’t win a game from October 29^th till February 18^th.  A WCHA cellar dweller is better than a AHA cellar dweller. I am going to with a Huskies sweep.

Air Force vs. North Dakota – The UND Fighting Sioux start the season against the AFA Falcons, the Fighting Sioux are a shell of their former self the Fighting Sioux lost 294 points from last year's 471 point offensive point total. The good news is that the Fighting Sioux still have quite a few offensive weapons in the arsenal led by Danny Kristo, Brock Nelson and Corbin Knight. Sioux win.

Boston College vs. North Dakota – The Sioux haven’t had a lot of luck against the Boston College Eagles as of late and they have lost the last four games they have played against the Eagles, however, one could say that the Sioux are due against the Eagles (6-1 Eagles April 2008, 6-4 Eagles April 2007, 6-5 Eagles 2006). Sioux break through with a win in the Ice Breaker. Sioux win.

Minnesota State at Rensselaer – This could be an interesting series both teams like to play a physical brand of hockey.  The Engineers lost in the first round of the NCAA playoffs to the UND Fighting Sioux and are going to want to start the season on a high note.  The Mavericks had what some would have classified as a rough season, as they went 14-18-6; missed the NCAA tourney and the Final Five. Also, the  Mavericks lost some notable players on defense, Kurt Davis, Ben Youds and Channing Boe and the Mavericks could take their lumps early on. I going with a split.   

Kreider shoots down rumor he’s leaving BC

The Boston College Eagles are probably breathing a little easier tonight with this good news. There had been a lot of speculation on the blogsphere and internet that the junior forward Chris Kreider might forgo his final two season of college eligibility to sign a professional contract.

Ranger Rants ----- Plenty of internet rumors today, apparently generated off the Boston College message boards, that Chris Kreider would be signing a contract with the Rangers. Just got off the phone with Kreider, who announced in April he would be returning for his junior season with Boston College, and the Rangers’ first-round pick in 2009 said nothing has changed for him.


In other words, the rumor is not true.

Kreider did add that the “decision to go back for my junior season” was valid “as of now,” which made it sound like that could change.

But Kreider said the decision wasn’t as tough a decision as one might believe.

“There wasn’t an offer on the table,” Kreider said. “If (the Rangers) have been in touch with my agent, I’m not aware of it. They haven’t been in touch with me at all.”

Chris Kreider, decision go back to junior season, as of now. Decision, tough make, wasn’t offer on table, only decision, talked over coaches, decision.

Blaming BC students? Not so fast

Rusty Para gave me a heads up on this story but it is an interesting turn of events. The MBTA trolley driver is some trouble for speeding and is facing charges of perjury. Now basically it boils down to some college students riding in a car where the driver was sober, there were passengers that are under age with open containers. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles hockey team disciplines any of these players.

Three members of the BC hockey team, which had just won the national championship, were passengers in the Jeep, and detectives found the vehicle strewn with beer cans and a bottle of vodka. “These students should be held accountable for their reckless and dangerous behavior,’’ railed the MBTA police chief the day after the crash.

All of which turned a relatively minor incident into national news, splashed across the pages and websites of The New York Times, USA Today, ESPN, and the Huffington Post, as well as every major media outlet in Boston. The hockey team not only failed to receive the customary White House invitation that national champions receive, it hasn’t gotten so much as a congratulatory sign on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

But since then, the story has taken several striking twists, far from the glare of the cameras. In May, with no fanfare, the MBTA suspended the trolley driver for two weeks after the agency’s investigators determined he was driving 35 miles per hour at the time of the crash, well over the 10-mile-per-hour speed limit, T officials confirmed yesterday.

Then, in a closed-door hearing in Brighton District Court last week, the most serious charges against Jane Stanton, the BC student driving the Jeep, were abruptly dismissed. Her toxicology tests showed she had not been drinking, her cellphone records showed she had not been texting, and she faced only three civil traffic infractions, officials and her lawyer said. [Boston Globe]