Growing up a Minnesota Golden Gophers fan, UNO forward Dan Swanson saw plenty of Dean Blais in WCHA games with North Dakota.
“I respected him,” Swanson said. “I can’t say I wasn’t cheering against him a few nights, but that’s changed now. It’s just exciting to think about what the possibilities are here for UNO.”
Swanson was one of many University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey players who dropped in to see their new coach at Friday’s introductory press conference. What they saw on the podium, and later when meeting him in person, is one of the most prominent figures in college hockey.
Goalie Jeremie Dupont, who grew up in Ontario, isn’t quite as familiar with United States college hockey history, but it didn’t take long to get up to speed.
Advertising“We all know he has a very extensive background and that’s exciting for us,” he said. “First impression is that he seems really confident, really self-assured and just has an air of success about him. As a player you can’t help but respect that and want to play for him.”
Defenseman Mark Bernier, the team captain, said Blais will spark conversation among more than just his teammates.
“It’s a big-time name,” he said. “And if you look at his record and history, it’s great for us. It’s going to get a lot of attention from our fan base, and it’s going to get a lot of attention from our competitors. They’ll say, ‘Wow, these guys are serious.’”
Nick Fohr, a UNO assistant coach, has plenty to remember of Blais. He grew up in Grand Forks, N.D., where his dad runs the visitors’ penalty box at Engelstad Arena.
“Dean is a legend up there,” Fohr said. “I grew up watching games — I never missed one. I know what Dean is about, how he runs the game and what he expects. I just hope I get a chance to work for him.”
Blais has a reputation for having teams play a fast-paced, offensive-minded style.
“I don’t mind winning 8-7 games,” Blais said. “I know the goaltenders hate it.”
Dupont said he had no problem with Blais’ style.
“I still think he expects a lot out of his players,” he said. “Just because you’re scoring a lot of goals doesn’t mean you give up hope on defense. All I want to do is win games anyway. It doesn’t matter if it’s 5-4 or 1-0. We want to win games, and that’s why they brought him in.”
Blais’ style works for other Mavs, too.
[Omaha.com]
It would appear C Saku Koivu's days with the Canadiens are finished. The Habs' captain will likely test the UFA market, although talk has resurfaced that he's going to pack his bags for Minnesota to play with brother Mikko. The Habs, meanwhile, are trying to sign D Mike Komisarek and RW Alexei Kovalev. Komisarek is expected to test the market, while Kovalev is expected to stay in Montreal ... The Stars' hiring of coach Marc Crawford has left hockey types mystified. Crawford coached Team Canada at the 1988 Olympics, when he selected the likes of Joe Nieuwendyk (now his boss in Dallas) ahead of Wayne Gretzky in the shootout during the semi-final loss to the Czech Republic. [CANOE]
Both Blais and Alberts unequivocally denied a Internet-blog-driven rumor that assurances of moving to the WCHA was part of Blais' contract negotiations.
"I'm not that powerful, come on," Blais said, chuckling. "No, I feel lucky to have a job sometimes. I didn't put any demands on that."
"We never broached that topic," Alberts said.
Blais said there are pros and cons to switching. [College Hockey New]
Dean Blais, one of the biggest names in college hockey coaching, will be introduced as UNO’s new coach in a 2 p.m. press conference Friday, according to sources with knowledge of the hire.
Blais led North Dakota to two national championships and a runner-up finish in a five-year stretch between 1997 and 2001. He took the Fighting Sioux to seven NCAA tournaments in 10 seasons, compiled a 262-115-33 record, won five regular-season Western Collegiate Hockey Association championships and two WCHA tournament titles.
He left North Dakota for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, for whom he worked in player development and as associate head coach. He then returned to North Dakota and spent last year as the head coach and general manager of the Fargo Force, the United States Hockey League expansion team that beat the Omaha Lancers in the playoffs and reached the Clark Cup finals.
The UNO position came open last month, when Athletic Director Trev Alberts promoted Mike Kemp to associate athletic director. Kemp, the only coach in the program’s 12-year history was 194-223-57 in his career, including 15-17-8 last season. UNO has made one trip to the NCAA tournament. [Omaha.com]
The University of Nebraska at Omaha will announce the selection of its new hockey coach at a press conference Friday at 2 p.m. at the Scott Conference Center, said Dave Ahlers, sports information director.
Mike Kemp stepped down as coach on May 14 to become an associate athletic director at UNO. Kemp was on the committee that picked the new coach [Omaha.com]
That little bit of snark made me recall a story an old acquaintance told me. In the summer of 2000, I took a little precursor from joining the corporate world by being a bartender at The Phoenix in London’s business district. The pub was part of a program where new and graduating students could work abroad with a temporary visa, so my coworkers were a motley crew of international 20somethings. One of the guys had just graduated from University of Wisconsin, the same school as Dany Heatley.
As Heatley had just been drafted second overall, I asked my coworker if he knew him. The fellow, who shall remain safely anonymous, laughed and shook his head. “That guy’s an idiot.”
A few further questions and I got a pretty good picture of what Heatley’s “education” was like: play hockey, smoke pot, copy homework from people my coworker knew, and repeat. A lot. Apparently, hearing the phrase, “Hey, bro, can I copy your homework?” wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary, nor was the stench of certain smoked herb from his clothes. I can’t totally remember if Heatley was bumming all his homework off my coworker’s roommate or his friend, but apparently my coworker saw quite a bit of him and he never really deviated from this caveman mentality.
This is all hearsay, of course, based on someone that I knew for only a few weeks. And of course, it’s not like pro athletes have a history of being extremely studious or brilliant in the fields of science, business, or engineering. But whenever people talk about Heatley’s supposed leadership skills or I hear him mumble through a post-game interview, all I can think of is, “Hey, bro, can I copy your homework?”
Mr. Me First ---- Talk to Dany Heatley once and you understand you're not talking to a MENSA candidate.
That's okay. As probably more a few coaches have told Heatley along the way: don't think, it just hurts the team.
But where Heatley really kept his synapses in reserve this time was his timing concerning a request to have his hockey contract traded to another NHL club.
I get the part where he doesn't want to live in Ottawa. Neither would I. I get the part where after being allowed to freelance continuously during his years as a heroic Senator he might chafe at the notion of being asked to play a larger team game.
Geez, if he'd known he'd have to play in three zones he'd have asked for more money.
No, the part where I don't get Heatley's timing is when it comes to the fact that just about every Canadian hockey player is trying to be on their best behaviour these days in hopes that Steve Yzerman might find them worthy of being part of the Olympic effort next winter.
Instead, Heatley is painting himself as a me-first individual to Yzerman, a guy who played through all the hard years in Detroit and never played for any other club even when it meant taking less money at the end of his career.
Reports have been swirling over the last few days that Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli and the agent for 21-year-old B’s sniper Phil Kessel are pretty far apart in negotiations, and that a trade of Kessel this summer could be a certainty if that contractual chasm isn’t bridged.
Kessel’s agent Wade Arnott checked in with the Big Bad Blog on Tuesday afternoon, refuted the notion that the sides are at an impasse, and in fact stated that he and Chiarelli have just recently opened up contract discussions. The negotiations began in earnest this week following Kessel’s surgery to repair a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.
Kessel, a restricted free agent able to receive offer sheets from other teams if he’s still unsigned on July 1, has made it clear to Arnott that he wants to remain with the team that drafted him fifth overall in the first round back in the 2006 draft.
“We’re in the early, early stages,” said Arnott of the negotiations. “We’re just beginning to chat now. Everything in our industry is still deadline-oriented and Phil is a restricted free agent, so it doesn’t surprise me (that discussions have only just begun). In addition to that, the priority was the surgery on his shoulder. Now that he’s recovering nicely from that I guess Peter has decided that now is the time to turn his attention to Phil.”
-----snip-----
My instructions from Phil are that my first priority is to try and get a deal done with Boston,” said Arnott, who also indicated that Kessel’s recovery from shoulder surgery is going well, but that the young winger is likely to miss a month next season. “His interests lie in remaining in Boston, and we’re going to see if we can get that done first.”
Chiarelli recently indicated that he views Kessel an important part of the Bruins hockey club, but that he wouldn’t feel “rushed” or “hurried” by a July 1 date that allows the speedy young winger to begin courting offers from other teams. The danger is that an opposing team will see an opportunity to strike the Bruins with a blow by inking Kessel to an expensive offer sheet — as the Edmonton Oilers did to the tune of seven years and $50 million with Buffalo Sabres RFA Tomas Vanek prior to the 2007-08 season. The salary cap-strapped B’s would be forced to match the offer — and begin trading off other assets in a position of desperation – or watch Kessel sign with somebody else and potentially blossom into a 40-50 goal scorer.
[Big Bad Blog](props)
Name: Danny Mattson
Team: Academy of Holy Angels(Minnesota HS)
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 174 lbs.
2008-2009 stats: 25 games, 22 goals, 49 assists, 71 points
Prospect Info:
Danny Mattson first made a name for himself when he made the then number one ranked Academy of Holy Angels hockey team as a 9th grader. Throughout his high school career, the talent that surrounded Mattson graduated, and the quality of Holy Angels' team dipped a bit, but that never stopped Mattson from being one of the most talented players in the state of Minnesota.
Mattson isn't the biggest player, but makes up for his lack of size with good speed and an incredible offensive awareness and playmaking ability that makes other players around him better. During the 2007 USA Hockey National Select 17 Festival, Mattson was paired on a line with Calgary draft pick Mitch Wahl, and the two combined to dominate the camp. As a senior, Mattson was able to dole out assists at a rate of nearly two per game. This passing ability is the key to his success at the next level, as he likely won't be able to blow shots past goaltenders, but as long as he keeps making those around better players, he should be a valuable asset.
Mattson has committed to play hockey at the University of North Dakota, but it was recently announced that first, he will spend a year with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL to hone his craft and gain another year of maturity before heading the Grand Forks.
Strengths: Offensive awareness, passing, skating
Needs to Improve: Strength, defensive play
After six seasons behind the bench in Dallas, the Stars have fired head coach Dave Tippett.
The move comes on the heels of the team naming former Stars' player Joe Nieuwendyk general manager earlier in the month.
While no successor has been named, sources say that the Stars have asked for permission to talk to former Los Angeles Kings coach Marc Crawford, who remains under contract to the Kings. It's not clear at this point whether Crawford has been hired to take Tippet's place or is merely a candidate.
Picked to be a potential Stanley Cup contender this past off-season, the Stars struggled mightily this year, having their season de-railed by the controversy caused by Sean Avery's comments and his subsequent banishment from the team.
The Stars finished the season in 12th spot in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs for the first time during Tippett tenure in the Lone Star state. [TSN]
Trev Alberts and Mike Kemp have been busy.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha's athletic director and associate athletic director were expected back in Omaha late Tuesday after meeting with six potential hockey coaches in interviews in two separate locations on a three-day trip, Alberts said.
“We had a chance to sit down with some candidates and it was very, very productive,” Alberts said. “We've sat down with some extremely competent, dynamic candidates.”
Alberts declined to reveal any of the candidates who have been interviewed to replace Kemp as the Mavericks' second-ever head coach.
Among those UNO is believed to be interested in are former North Dakota coach Dean Blais, Colorado College assistant Mike Guentzel, Minnesota assistant Mike Hastings, Minnesota-Duluth assistant Steve Rohlik and Boston University assistant David Quinn. Guentzel and Hastings are former Omaha Lancers coaches, while Rohlik and Quinn are former UNO assistants.
Blais, reached by telephone Tuesday, deflected questions about the vacancy and whether he has had an interest in it.
“I think you're better off talking to Trev Alberts,” Blais said. “I'm not going to get myself into a ‘he said, they said.'” [omaha.com]
QUESTION --- Rumors have circulated around the Internet, as well as the UAF community, that the Alaska Nanooks hockey team may be moving from the CCHA to the WCHA. Is this true?
RESPONSE --- From Forrest Karr, UAF Athletics and Recreation director
We are working with both conferences to explore affiliation with the WCHA for a number of reasons including the potential to increase revenue, reduce team travel costs, reduce team travel subsidies and the opportunity to play four league games each year against our natural in-state rival.
Chancellor Rogers will be briefed on May 27. If he decides to move forward, students, faculty, staff and the greater Fairbanks community will all be invited to open forums for discussion and input.
According to the Ottawa Sun, Bruins leading goal scorer and current restricted free agent Phil Kessel is seeking a $5 million a year contract. The Bruins, however, aren’t willing to dish out such loot for Kessel, who underwent successful shoulder surgery earlier this offseason following a career year in which he scored 36 goals and 24 assists in 70 games.
Bruce Garrioch of ottawasun.com writes: “The Bruins and F Phil Kessel appear to be far apart on a contract. Coming off an entry-level salary of $850,000, Kessel wants a huge raise to $5 million per season. It appears GM Peter Chiarelli wants Kessel to accept a similar deal C David Krejci inked earlier this week — $11.25 million over three years. If Kessel won’t budge, he could be moved.”
Boston is already paying forwards Marc Savard $5 million, Patrice Bergeron $4.75 million, and Marco Sturm $3.5 million as well as Krejci, who will make $3.75 per year [NESN]
The worst kept secret in hockey — or worst kept speculation in hockey — literally since last winter appears to be coming into fruition. According to CTV in Calgary, Brent Sutter will step down as the coach of the Devils today.
Sutter’s tenure there ended in devastating fashion. In Game 7 back in April, the Carolina Hurricanes went from being 1:20 away from their season ending to ending the season of the Devils with 32 seconds left.
I’d expect that Jacques Lemaire will at least get a phone call to see if he’s interested in returning to Jersey.
Lemaire, who has yet to sign on as a consultant in Tampa for some reason, made it crystal clear after he left Minnesota that he does want to coach again. But he also made it crystal clear that if he ever were to coach again, it has to be for a general manager he has a relationship with. And he said it has to be on the East coast.
Well, there aren’t a lot of options with so many limitations.
Lemaire coached the Devils from 1993-98, winning a Cup there in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season. He and GM Lou Lamoriello still have great mutual respect for each other, proof by the hour they spent in the stands chatting each other up when the Wild was there in March.
Only time will tell, but this has been my gut feeling from the moment Lemaire said he wanted to coach again after the season finale in Columbus. Just to make clear, this is pure conjecture though. [Russo's Rants]
Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa: Is there a fit here?According to ESPN's E. J. Hradek: "Ottawa GM Bryan Murray, who, according to those sources, has been notified of Heatley's desire for a change of scenery, is mulling his options. Murray could retool the Senators' roster by moving Heatley. Of course, any trading partner would have to have the budget room necessary to accommodate the remaining five years of Heatley's deal, which counts for $7.5 million against the cap. Heatley is thought to be interested in a move to the Western Conference."
If he can be lured out of Canada to the East, could the Rangers cobble a package anchored with Scott Gomez? Is Ottawa on Gomer's no-trade list? Assume Rangers would have to sweeten with prospect and a pick, right? [Newsday.com]
TOLNA, N.D. — The North Dakota Board of Higher Education recently voted to prohibit UND from using Fighting Sioux as its nickname. As a Christian who strives to follow the commands and ethics of the Prince of Peace, I was encouraged and delighted with the board’s decision.
Non-Indian schools and universities have no moral bases for using the names or images of American Indian people for their corporate agendas. The dominant Anglo-Saxon culture has, for generations, manipulated and exploited the indigenous people of this continent for our economic gain.
Nicknames and logos are little more than mass-marketing tools that are used nationwide by schools and sports teams to create billion-dollar commercial brand allegiances among consumers.
Institutions of higher education such as UND morally discredit themselves when they stoop to using racial stereotypes as mass-marketing techniques.
None of us likes being labeled or told who we are. God made diversity to be the founding principle of creation. We show reverence for God’s works when we respect each other’s differences and let our neighbors define themselves and create their own destiny.
I’ve heard too many white folks defending the Fighting Sioux nickname by saying it’s “a good and proud role model for the Indians to have.” This simply is us telling another race of people what’s good for them.
We would be insulted if anyone did the same to us. Imagine our reaction if an Indian school created a Farming Rednecks nickname. The Fighting Sioux nickname should be as offensive to our moral sensibilities as a Farming Redneck or Dancing Negroes nickname would be.
The North Dakota Board of Higher Education’s decision returns UND to an ethical standard it lost when it traded its Flickertail nickname for an offensive racial stereotype. By doing so, the board models for a generation of students the ethical demand of Christ to love and respect your neighbor as yourself.
David Nichols
Rev. Nichols is the pastor of Morning Star Parish
Jacques Lemaire says thanks but no thanks to Lightning
The Lightning's flirtation with Jacques Lemaire has come to an end, and apparently on good terms. Tampa Bay wanted to hire the former Wild coach as a senior consultant. But Lemaire said on Monday he has told Lightning GM Brian Lawton he has another offer that has gained his interest and which he is pursuing.
"Brian showed a lot of interest and I was pleased about that," Lemaire said. "He told me he really wanted me to be part of the organization. He was very patient."
Lemaire, 63, who lives in Palmetto, stepped down as Wild coach after the season. He would not say with what team to which he was talking, but the New York Times reported he might be hired, perhaps as an assistant, by the Canadiens, the team with which he won eight Stanley Cups as a player.
Lemaire said he likely would give Lawton a call to see if the Lightning position was still available if the other situation fell through, but as it stands now, Lemaire said, "I don't think Brian thinks I'm going to be there." [Tampabay.com]
In the ever changing world of college athletics who knows how the landscape will look for the 59 Division I hockey schools as soon as 16 months from now.
Will the CCHA still have 12 members (Nebraska Omaha is likely to switch to the WCHA)? Will the three Big Ten schools - Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State - still be in the league or will they be a part of a modified conference including Minnesota, Wisconsin and maybe even Notre Dame? Such a Big Ten hockey set up would provide more programming for the Big Ten Network and the idea is reportedly being pushed by Wisconsin and others. Would a CCHA still exist with the other eight teams? Will Alabama Huntsville still have a team if it doesn't find a new league and its application to the CCHA is iffy at best. Where will the two Alaska schools end up? Will Bowling Green and others finally succumb to the economics of their sport? These and more are all issues to determine after the coming season.
[Lansing State Journal]
