Randomization...

Excuse me if I am a little giddy today after watching my favorite team the Boston Bruins take apart their last two opponents scoring 12 goals in two games and giving up a meager one goal. How about Bruins goalie Tim Thomas for the league MVP? It seems the roar of the late 1980's early 1990's is back in Boston. I used to live in the Boston area from 1988 - 1990 and I was able to go to seven Bruin's game at the old Boston Garden. In my opinion this years Boston Bruin's hockey team is probably better than the team(s) that went to the Stanley cup playoffs in 1987-1988 and 1989-1990 season. This Years Bruins are bigger, bader, tough and better offensively and defensively that the last two Bruin's teams that went to the Stanley Cup finals.

First after re-watching the Lucic and Brown fight In response to BrentB's comments on another blog post; Yeah I think Milan Lucic crossed the line and violated the code last night by hitting a player that was laying on the ice. Was Lucic justified because Brown hit him before Lucic was ready to fight, I don't know. Here is what Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Globe had to say on the matter.

* Based on the ruling on Mike Brown (instigating, fighting, 10-minute misconduct), Milan Lucic had a reason to be upset with the Duck's early right to start their fight. The replay showed that Lucic might not have finished shedding his gloves before Brown got in his first pop. That shot prompted Lucic to continue punching Brown when he hit the deck -- usually considered a no-no between fighters.

Here is what Blake Wheeler had to say about last night's game.

"I think guys are playing more loose," said Blake Wheeler, who had two assists. "It might sound like a really easy thing to just flip the switch. But sometimes it's the hardest thing in the world out there to just relax, play your game, let loose, and go about your business. Everyone wanted to do the right thing. When we were struggling for a little bit, everyone wanted to get things going the right way and take it upon themselves. As a group, I think we've found our rhythm again with that calmness. We're going out there and reacting and just playing hard. We're confident that the results are going to be there."

The Boston Bruins are a little banged up after playing against the Dirty Ducks last night. The game was a head banger's ball.

Marc Savard and Milan Lucic, kept out of practice today because of upper-body injuries, are questionable for tomorrow. Marc Savard, roughed up in last night's second period, is questionable for tomorrow. Blake Wheeler took a Chris Pronger shot off the foot in the first period and didn't practice today, but Claude Julien said the rookie should be available tomorrow. Julien said there could be promotions from Providence today if neither Savard nor Lucic can go tomorrow.

A couple of former Fighting Sioux made Puck Daddy's Thursday's three stars. First Zach Parise made the second star of the night. Nice to see Zach Parise doing well, too bad it's for the New Jersey Devils. I hope the New Jersey Devils fall flat on their faces during the NHL playoffs. (Sorry Sioux7)

No. 2 star: Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils We hate to double up on a full-slate night, but Parise and his linemates were that dominant in keeping the heat off Brodeur in his return after four months in mothballs. Parise, Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac combined for eight points and half of New Jersey's 32 shots. The highlight goal of the evening came when Parise out-muscled Adam Foote before beating Raycroft top-shelf from close range. The goal was his 36th, tying him with Jeff Carter for second in the NHL. Parise added two assists and did some uncredited dirty work in front of the net on the Devils' fourth goal.

It sounds like former Fighting Sioux defensman Brian Lee didn't win over the hearts and minds of the officials last night as he spent a fair amount of time in the Sin Bin.

Ottawa rookie defenseman Brian Lee was called for three minor penalties in the second period against San Jose. The Sens killed the first infraction, but the Sharks scored twice when Lee protested a holding call and had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty added to his punishment. Final score: 2-1.

A few things...

The QMJHL will not ban fighting this season but will come down hard on brawls. I think this is a smart move by the league.

Quebec junior hockey league won't ban fighting
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League won't ban fighting outright for the 2008-09 season that commences Thursday but will aim to crack down on brawling, the league president announced Wednesday.

The league will enforce 31 recommendations for stiffer penalties for brawling that were put forth by a committee hired this spring to examine hockey violence.

"We won't accept anything that's not part of the game of hockey," QMJHL president Gilles Courteau said at a news conference. "We're working to change the culture of the game. We don't want to see any more bad situations in hockey.

"The committee looked at all situations, including the fighting aspect. We're not here to focus on the fighting aspect only. We've put rules in place to be more severe for situations that could happen following a fight."

The committee was formed in May on the urging of Quebec Sports Minister Michelle Courchesne following an incident involving Quebec Remparts goaltender Jonathan Roy, son of former NHL netminder and then Remparts coach Patrick Roy.

Eric Staal is the latest NHL star to get a fat contract. I guess the Canes wanted to get Staal locked up before he became eligible for free agency. Maybe the Wild General Manager should take note.

Hurricanes re-sign Eric Staal for 7 years...
The Carolina Hurricanes announced Thursday they have signed centre Eric Staal to a seven-year, $57.75-million US contract extension.

Staal, 23, will earn $8.25 million per season in a deal that begins with the 2009-10 NHL campaign and extends through 2015-16.

"This is a great day for hockey in the Carolinas, to know that our franchise player will be with us for at least another eight seasons," said Jim Rutherford, Carolina's president and general manager.

Speaking of contracts, look at this list of lengthy contracts; look at some of these contracts, we have star players locked up for a long time to their current teams.

A look at some lengthy post-lockout contracts signed by NHL players In the wake of Eric Staal's seven-year contract extension with Carolina, here's a look at some other lengthy deals in recent years:
Rick DiPietro, N.Y. Islanders, 15 years, $67.5 million
Alex Ovechkin, Washington, 13 years, $124 million
Mike Richards, Philadelphia, 12 years, $69 million
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay, 11 years, $85 million
Brian Campbell, Chicago, 8 years, $56.8 million
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia, 8 years, $52 million
Eric Staal, Carolina, 7 years, $57.75 million
Scott Gomez, N.Y. Rangers, 7 years, $51.5 million
Thomas Vanek, Buffalo, 7 years, $50 million
Jason Spezza, Ottawa, 7 years, $49 million
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit, 7 years, $46.9 million
Patrik Elias, New Jersey, 7 years, $42 million
Ryan Malone, Tampa Bay, 7 years, $31.5 million
Dany Heatley, Ottawa, 6 years, $45 million
Dan Boyle, San Jose, 6 years, $40 million
(See the rest of the list here)

Classic post...

Every once in a while I come across a post that I think is pretty good. Here is an example of one of these classic posts. I found this post that over on KFAN Rube Chat...

I have to agree with the premise that there are way too many agitators that turn into turtles after cheap shooting a star players, aka Cody McCloud. While there are agitators in all levels of hockey, they are more prevalent in the NHL. These morons skate around cheap shooting and taking liberties on the leagues star players and don't pay for the transgressions. One dimensional players like Derrick Boogaard are fun to watch fight but offer nothing on the score sheet but penalty minutes. While I like Goon's I do like players that can fight, skate, score and check. The Wild need a player like Milan Lucic.

scsuhuskyfan said: I understand your concern and agree that this team needs to get tougher. But, as SCSU pointed out, I don't know how many more top-level goons this team has to employ before Wild fans recognize that "signing goons" does not equal "getting tougher" or even "protecting skill players."

The (frightening) reality of the NHL is that another team can hurt somebody on your team if they really want to, or it could just happen by accident anyway. Brad May cheap shotted Kim Johnsson and then owned up to it by fighting Boogaard in a subsequent regular season game. But the damage was still done, and the fact that Boogaard was around didn't stop May from doing what he did in the first place.

Then you have the "Colorado Problem" where a fighter like Boogaard or Simon won't have any deterrent effect on guys that simply refuse to fight. Matthias Ohlund slashed Koivu and knocked him out for weeks, but he doesn't fight. And Cody McLeod or any number of garbage players in that Colorado series were never going to square off with a goon, so they felt free to hack and slash as they pleased.

You become "tougher" in the NHL by developing and acquiring "tough" players who can also play hockey. Brendan Shanahan, Chris Pronger, Dion Phaneuf....these are guys who play physical and do "goonish" things from time to time, but you're not hurting your team to put them on the ice. The more time the Wild give to Boogaard so he run around the ice trying to decapitate people is time that could've been spent trying to score goals and actually play hockey.

Where in the World is Jeff Dubay?

Listening to the PA and Dubay show on the KFAN podcast this past week I have been wondering the same thing myself: where heck is Jeff Dubay? Before I read C.J. article in the Star and Tribune I figured that Jeff Dubay must have been on much needed summer vacation or something, it makes perfect sense, August is a perfect time to go on a summer vacation to the lake to unwind and decompress.

Personally, from an entertainment standpoint I can only hope that Jeff Dubay aka "Puffy" gets back on the air very soon, because the P.A. and Dubay broadcasts aren't the same without him. As most Fighting Sioux hockey fans know Jeff Dubay is a self confessed Fighting Sioux hockey hater/antagonist and enjoys ripping the Fighting Sioux and calling them a bunch of goons and hacks. Joe Finley is also one of his favorite Sioux hockey players. :)

KFAN's Dubay is MIA
"It's personal," is the official word from KFAN on the absence of Jeff Dubay.

The "P.A. & Dubay," morning show co-host has been gone two, maybe two and a half weeks, Gregg Swedberg, programming veep of Clear Channel Minneapolis, told me Wednesday, when conveying the official word on Dubay's whereabouts. "Jeff will be back Aug. 8."

A listener with "Galet" in his e-mail address was first to raise questions with me about Dubay in a July 24 missive: "Last week they explained he had an incurable case of the hiccups. This week he has been gone all week with them saying he's 'out,' not 'on vacation' or other explanation. Seems a bit fishy."

When I talked to Dubay's P.A., as in Paul Allen, Wednesday he told me, "Doobers will be back Aug. 8 for the Vikings' Fan Line against the Seahawks, after that preseason game. Then he'll be back the following Monday at training camp with me. Let's wait for Doobs to come back and I'll mention that you called."

P.A. obviously knows precisely why his friend has been gone but is keeping the particulars confidential. Since talking about the personal problems of professional athletes is part of what they do, Dubay needs to prepare a line of explanation.

I know that Dubay is not too far removed from a divorce.

Catching up after a long weekend.

I traveled to Lake City, Minnesota to play in a golf tourney at the Lake City golf course this past weekend. I am beat, after 386 miles and 6 hours of driving in the car I am now finally getting back to my computer after being off line since last Thursday @0800. I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms of not having my lap top computer for three and half days, I also didn't watch any news or read any newspapers. After this weekend we can declare that the summer is officially almost over and I am also ready to put the clubs away for the season already. Hockey season couldn't come fast enough.

I must say the golf tourney was fun, however, it was also a very humbling experience, needless to say I did not play very well at all and I carded my first 11 in about 7 years. I had the distinct honor of having the 4th highest score on the golf course for Saturday. I didn't do much better today.

I realized that golfing at Kings Walk in Grand Forks, ND does not prepare you for playing on courses that are line with trees. Also putting at Kings Walk is not the same, the greens are basically flat compared to this course there wasn't a flat spot on any of the greens. Can we say 4 putt? Make that multiple times.

The Lake City Golf Course is lined with a lot of hardwood trees, should we say big oak trees that stop your ball dead in its tracks when you hit a ball into them. I would not be lying if I said that I don't like trees on golf courses, give me a sand trap and tall fescue any day. I hope a big wind storm comes through and knocks a few of these big trees down before I come play the next Lake City Invitational.

Lessons Learned

I learned that some golf courses do not allow you to muscle the ball around the golf course, a smart game strategy is needed. I learned that stuborness and pride do not always work and there is a time and a place for the smart play. This would mean the decision of using your 5 iron is a better option than trying to ram a driver down a tight fairway, can we say double or triple bogey. Chalk one up for the golf course.

Wild sign Bouchard to 5-year extension


While I was gone on my three day vacation the Minnesota Wild signed perimeter player Pierre-Marc Bouchard to a healthy five year contract; I think that Bouchard is going to be over paid in my opinion, I just don't think he is worth 4 million dollars a year. Bochard is a soft player that will not go into the dirty areas to score goals and get most of his posts playing on the perimeter.

The part that irks me is that basically the Wild GM Doug Risebrough say PBM is worth more money than Brian Rolston, what ever. This club is going no where this season and will be hard pressed to make the playoffs. Welcome to mediocrity, I wonder how long the 18,000+ fans will put up with this?

Boston buys out Murray's contract

The Glen Murray's era is over in Boston. This is no shocker as the Bruins are over the cap and need cap room.

Tortorella to interview with Islanders: report

It is confirmed that John Tortorella is going to meet with general manager Garth Snow on Sunday to discuss the team's head coaching vacancy, according to a Newsday report on Friday.

NHL Schedules are out.

The NHL released their schedules. Michael Russo has the Wild Schedule up on his blog. I am very happy to see that the Bruins open up the season against the Wild, the Bruins also travel to the T.D. North Garden on January 6th 2009. Looking at the schedule in October the Wild play 8 games and four of them are against eastern division foes.

Waiting for Sundin I mean Waiting for Stanley breaks down the new schedule.

-Each team will play every team in it's division 6 times (instead of 8 times).
-Each team will play teams from other divisions within their conference 4 times each.
-Each team will play non-Conference teams 18 times.

OCTOBER * REGULAR SEASON
SAT. 11 BOSTON 7:30 P.M.Tue. 14 @ Atlanta 6:00 p.m.
Thu. 16 @ Florida 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 18 @ Tampa Bay 6:30 p.m.
THU. 23 BUFFALO 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 25 COLUMBUS 7:00 P.M.
MON. 27 CHICAGO 7:00 P.M.
Wed. 29 @ Dallas 7:30 p.m.
THU. 30 MONTREAL 7:00 P.M.

NOVEMBER
Sat. 1 @ Phoenix 9:00 p.m.
Tue. 4 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
Thu. 6 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 8 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.
THU. 13 PHOENIX 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 15 COLUMBUS 7:00 P.M.
Tue. 18 @ Pittsburgh 6:00 p.m.
THU. 20 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 22 ST. LOUIS 7:00 P.M.
MON. 24 WASHINGTON 7:00 P.M.
WED. 26 DALLAS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 28 TAMPA BAY 1:00 P.M.
Sat. 29 @ Nashville 7:00 p.m.

DECEMBER
MON. 1 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
WED. 3 ST. LOUIS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 5 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 6 @ Nashville 7:00 p.m.
Thu. 11 @ Phoenix 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 13 @ Los Angeles 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 14 @ Anaheim 7:00 p.m.
WED. 17 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 19 N.Y. ISLANDERS 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 20 @ St. Louis 7:30 p.m.
TUE. 23 CAROLINA 7:00 P.M.
SUN. 28 CHICAGO 5:00 P.M.
Mon. 29 @ Calgary 8:00 p.m.
WED. 31 SAN JOSE 5:00 P.M.

JANUARY
SAT. 3 DETROIT 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 4 @ Colorado 7:00 p.m.
Tue. 6 @ Boston 6:00 p.m.
Thu. 8 @ Philadelphia 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 10 @ Columbus 6:00 p.m.
TUE. 13 PHOENIX 7:00 P.M.
THU. 15 EDMONTON 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 17 ANAHEIM 8:00 P.M.
Mon. 19 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 20 LOS ANGELES 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 25 ALL-STAR GAME (Montreal) TBA

DAY DATE OPPONENT TIME (CDT)
JANUARY - CONTINUED
TUE. 27 TORONTO 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 30 @ Edmonton 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 31 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.

FEBRUARY
WED. 4 ANAHEIM 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 6 NASHVILLE 7:00 P.M.
SUN. 8 EDMONTON 2:00 P.M.
WED. 11 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
Thu. 12 @ Detroit 6:30 p.m.
SAT. 14 OTTAWA 7:00 P.M.
THU. 19 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 21 DETROIT 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 22 @ Chicago 6:00 p.m.
TUE. 24 LOS ANGELES 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 27 @ Calgary 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 28 @ Edmonton 9:00 p.m.

MARCH
Tue. 3 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.
Thu. 5 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
Sat. 7 @ Los Angeles 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 8 @ Anaheim 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 10 SAN JOSE 7:00 P.M.
Thu. 12 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 14 @ Dallas 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 15 @ St. Louis 5:00 p.m.
TUE. 17 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 20 @ New Jersey 6:00 p.m.
SUN. 22 EDMONTON 2:00 P.M.
Tue. 24 @ N.Y. Rangers 6:00 p.m.
Wed. 25 @ N.Y. Islanders 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 28 @ Calgary 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 29 @ Edmonton 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 31 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.

APRIL
FRI. 3 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 5 @ Detroit 4:00 p.m.
TUE. 7 DALLAS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 10 NASHVILLE 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 11 @ Columbus 6:00 p.m.

A few loose ends.

Fomer Sioux defenseman/forward Kyle Radke has signed a professional contract to play with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. Sounds like the Steelhead management wanted to add some toughness to their line up. It will be interesting to see what kind of penalty minutes Kyle can rack up.

“Kyle is a smooth skater and solid ‘d-man,’” said Idaho Steelheads Head Coach Derek Laxdal. He added, “He’s got a physical toughness that will bode well in our league and we’re excited to get him as Kyle was highly recruited amongst other ECHL teams.”

Yawn, boring, been there done that...

The Redwings and the Blackhawks are going to play in yet another outdoor game this winter. While I am sure that I will watch it, I hope this game does a better job at keeping my attention than the last one. The outdoor game in Buffalo was hard to watch because of the constant stops and starts. Apparently this will be the third outdoor game that former UNH star Ty Conklin who just signed a free agent contract with the Stanley Cup champions the Detroit Redwings could have the unique experience of taking part in all three recent outdoor NHL contests. He was a member of Edmonton and then Pittsburgh for the previous two games

The host Chicago Blackhawks will square off against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, in a 1 p.m. ET game that should not only capture the attention of the entire sports nation on arguably the greatest sports television day of the year, but could also be a key contest in what figures to be a tight Central Division race. It will be the 701st all-time meeting of the clubs. No NHL opponents have played more regular-season games against each other.

The game, the third in an outdoor venue put on by the NHL, will be televised live on NBC in the United States as well as CBC and RDS in Canada. NHL Radio will provide coverage across North America and NHL.com will provide extensive digital video coverage.

"The NHL is delighted to bring its most historic rivalry to one of the most historic venues in sports," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We thank Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough for their vision. We thank Mike Ilitch and the Red Wings for their cooperation. And we thank Mayor Daley, in advance, for the warm welcome we know the City of Chicago

Former Fighting Sioux forward/star Jonathan Toews will wear the "C" for the Blackhawks this season. This is a huge honor for the young players as Jonathan Toews is (20 years, 79 days) that is barely 20 folks and will not be 21 until after his second season in the NHL. Thanks to the Rink Rat for bringing this too my attention as I had forgotten how old he really was.

Chicago Blackhawks announced Friday that centre Jonathan Toews will serve as the team's captain for the 2008-09 season, making him the third-youngest captain in NHL history.

Only Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby and Tampa Bay Lightning centre Vincent Lecavalier, both while 19, became captains at a younger age than the 20-year-old Toews, who will be heading into just his second season in the Windy City.

"Jonathan deserves this honour," said Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon. "He is a tremendous individual and a wonderful leader on and off the ice.

"He has experience in captaining teams from his world junior appearances and guys follow his lead in our locker room."

Toews led NHL rookies last season with 24 goals and seven power-play markers while ranking third with 54 points in 64 games.

The Winnipeg native was Chicago's first choice, third overall, in the 2006 NHL entry draft.

The Hockey committee proposes changes

After all the complaining about the Wisconsin Badgers getting into the national tourney last spring with a sub .500 record, you could just about predict this rule change was coming down the pike.

Personally, I thought it was kind of weak that the Badgers made the tourney with a sub .500 record but after the Badgers made the tourney based on the selection criteria the NCAA had set forth, I wasn't as upset about them making the tourney. Add to the equation that the Badgers beat the Pioneers and almost beat the Sioux for the regional championship made it appeared in at least my opinion that the Badgers deserved to participate in their own regional.

Hockey committee changes selection criteria
July 01, 2008
The Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee is recommending that teams must compile a record of .500 or above in the regular season to be considered for championship selection.

The change reflects policy in other Division I sports, such as men’s and women’s soccer, softball and women’s volleyball. The ice hockey committee endorsed the change at its annual meeting last month after a general discussion about last year’s championship, in which a team with a sub-.500 record was selected for an at-large bid. After garnering feedback from the coaches association and conference offices, the committee decided that requiring a .500 record for selection would be best for the sport and the future of the championship.

The change will go before the Division I Championships/Sport Management Cabinet for a final decision in September.

The committee also recommended to the cabinet that all six hockey conferences – College Hockey America, Atlantic Hockey, ECAC Hockey, Hockey East Association, Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Western Collegiate Hockey Association – receive automatic bids to the championship. College Hockey America does not meet standards for an automatic bid, since it falls below minimum sports-sponsorship requirements with four teams, but the committee decided that for the good of the sport and the championship, it would continue to provide automatic qualification to the winner of College Hockey America’s postseason tournament. The decision will be reviewed by the cabinet in the fall.

In other discussions, the committee:

•Will recommend Midwest and West regional sites for 2010 and 2011 to the Championships/Sport Management Cabinet this summer.

•Selected game times for the 2009 Frozen Four. Semifinal games will be at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., Eastern time, April 9. The championship game is at 7 p.m. Eastern time, April 11.

•Decided timeouts at the championship will be two minutes from whistle to puck drop.

•Selected Steve Cady, senior associate athletics director at Miami (Ohio), as committee chair.

Oh yeah they almost forgot: charges against Oshie dropped

The Grand Forks Herald, WDAZ and a certain sports writer in Fargo that writes for he Forum couldn't rush fast enough to get the news out that Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie and Mike Radja from UNH were cited for disorderly conduct on the weekend of December 30th 2007. The media was falling all over themselves trying to get this story out in the news paper and on the evening news. It was disgusting how these young men were tarred and feathered before this case ever went to trial. One could say that the media has egg on their face.

Fast forward to present day. I will be the first to admit that it's a legitimate news story when one the area's sports star is caught doing something wrong, however, it's also a news story when the charges against the accused are dropped. Seriously folks why did the press take it's time finally getting the news out? I knew about this story a month ago and the paper is just deciding to let us know one month later that the charges against T.J. Oshie were dismissed. Oh yeah; the charges against UNH star Mike Radja were dismissed as well on June 9th, 2008. To add injury to insult the Grand Forks Herald buried the story on page 6 of section A, I guess they felt it wasn't worthy of being a front page news story. Disgusting!

Disorderly conduct charge against Oshie dismissed
Herald Staff Report
Published Tuesday, June 24, 2008
A misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct against former UND hockey player T.J. Oshie was dismissed last month, according to court documents.

Oshie and Mike Radja, a hockey player from New Hampshire, were arrested in the early morning hours of Dec. 30 and charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly urinating in an elevator in a building at 100 N. Third St. in downtown Grand Forks, according to court documents. The two were part of a group of people trapped in the elevator.

The charge against Oshie was dismissed May 23, as part of a “compromise,” according to the court file. According to the North Dakota Century Code, a misdemeanor charge can be resolved through compromise if the injured person — in this case, the property owner — has legal remedy through a civil action, or if they say they’ve been compensated for whatever injury was incurred. A compromise isn’t possible under statute if the offense was against a judge or a law

enforcement officer, if it was committed with the intent to commit a felony or if it’s a case of domestic violence.

The charge against Radja was dismissed June 9, according to court records.

Oshie, who signed a three-year deal with the St. Louis Blues in May, was one of 10 Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalists as a UND junior and was named a first-team All-American by the American Hockey Coaches Association.

Here is a little perspective.

I saw this comment posted on siouxsports.com and It got me thinking about something. While Ryan Duncan had a down year by his own standards he still had a better three season strech points wise than say a Blake Wheeler who according to the Boston Globe will sign an entry level deal on the first of July with the Boston Bruins. So what does Blake have that Duncan doesn't? Personally I would say 10 inches in height and the benefits of being drafted in the first round. Other than that nothing. As far as offensive creativity goes Ducan has a heck of lot more than an under achiever like Wheeler, however, like the writer says he is no Gerbe. Seriously folks, not many are like Nathan Gerbe.

Duncan didn't always play with Oshie and Toews at UND either. Lastly, there will be another Toews in the Fighting Sioux line up come fall so maybe just maybe there will version of the Toews, Duncan, ________...

WCHA-Fan said: The numbers are a big thing for teams. Yea Duncan is short, listed at 5'6" and just under 160lbs. But Nathan Gerbe is 5'5" and about 165lbs. The difference between those two is speed. Gerbe is a very quick player where as Duncan isn't the fastest guy out there and thats something that Duncan if he improved there would help him if he were to pursue an NHL deal next year.

As it sets up right now the Sioux are better with him because he will be a leader and most likely wearing the "C" next year. However, he won't have Oshie anymore, and his numbers did suffer without Toews last year. For the Sioux's sake I hope he has a good year next year. He was an asset to the Sioux, like you said, he did do a lot of time on the PK. Like I said in an earlier post, this season coming up will be a telling sign of how good Duncan is. I think a lot of NHL critics and even in the WCHA are going to look to him this year to put up numbers for this team. I said before that Duncan may have been the benefactor of having Oshie and Toews with him. This will be Duncan's "prove it" year. No Toews, No Oshie, lets see how he does. I don't think he will have a problem being a leader on the team, most likely wearing the "C" next year. Oshie and Toews proved how good they were, now its Duncan's turn.

Rolston and Gaborik rumors

Here are some of the latest rumors from Eklund The Anonymous Hockey Blogger. I have seen this guy right like once and that was during the Toews signing, go figure.

First off, IF the Wild trade Marian Gaborik they better get a boat load of draft choices and prospects; in my opinion Boston has little to give in the way of prospects. If the Minnesota Wild trades the face of their organization away, Minnesota Wild fans will not be very forgiving if the organization doesn’t get a lot in return. Gaborik although a often hurt player I a dynamic offensive player that does bring a lot to the table, replacing his 40-50 goals in the line up would be very hard. I am all for getting rid of perimeter player PMB. I don't see the Wild trading Gabby.

As a Bruins fan I would love to see Hossa and Gaborik on the same team along with Savard, however, wouldn't the Wild also be in the mix as well? Brian Rolston is one of my favorite all-time American born players in the NHL and I would love to see him end his career with the Minnesota Wild.

Rolston
A few sources are telling me that Brian Rolston, one of the more attractive UFAs due to his solid two-way play, is looking likely to return to Minnesota. That is not to say that other teams aren't going to make pitches that may make this decision a tough one for Brian, but most of my sources are leaning towards Brian returning due to the fact he really loves playing in Minnesota.

Gaborik
Although some sources are saying pretty much the same thing regarding Gaborik's desire to remain a "Wild" (?) reports are that some very serious trade offers may make things complicated including a mega offer from a "team in the Northeast" that I believe to be either Buffalo or Boston. There is one scenario where Boston would attempt to unite Hossa and Gaborik in Boston.

Umberger for Suter?
From all I am hearing Jeff Carter wants to and will indeed be a Flyer for years to come. However, the Flyers are in an interesting spot with RJ. While it is hard to imagine a Vanek-like offer sheet coming in for RJ, it is entirely possible that Holmgren and Poile (two long-time friends) could make a move that would clear up issues for each of them.

WCHA refs at it again.

Now the rest of college hockey gets to see how bad the officials in the WCHA are. I hope that finally someone in the NCAA office the WCHA commissioner to task for the quality of it's on ice officials. Yesterday Derek Shepherd had another rough game in the third period and in the over-time of the Miami and Air Force game. Shepherd misses a blatant interference call by Miami but calls Air Force for a on a ticky tacky minor call. There is no reason Shepherd deserves to be calling games on the national stage. If any one should be calling games in the national tourney it should be WCHA offical Brian Thul.

-INCH’s criticism of referee Derek Shepherd during the NCAA tournament is turning into an annual affair, as you can see in last year’s Northeast Regional Final notebook. Shepherd made the right call on the too-many-men penalty, but he should have swallowed the whistle instead of sending Falcon Derrick Burnett into the box for a really ticky-tack slashing penalty 1:49 into overtime. Later in the extra session, there were two infractions far worse on Miami’s end that Shepherd chose to ignore.

Hey Ya; March Madness...

I found this song/video over on YouTube a few days a go and have been whistling this song all day every since. I can’t get this song out of my head. I am not much of a hip-hop/rap kind of guy, I am more of a country and rock and roll fan, never the less, this is an awesome song. Goon and Hip-Hop I know; maybe I am just punch drunk from working 6 overnight shifts in a row with one more overnight shift to go. We started this new schedule at work and this was the first time through it for me. To say the least it has been a death march, but it is almost over, and the fun is about to begin.

Why am I so up beat? This is the best time of the year, its almost spring and nothing beats this time of year it except maybe the opener of Duck hunting season (Ducktober) and the beginning of golf season in the spring.

The NCAA hockey tourney is Hockey's version of March madness. March Bring the NCAA hockey tourney and then the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Every night there is another big game with huge implications. I would liken going to the final five as a religious experience, hockey and beer.