Grand Forks Native becomes Gophers assistant coach.

Former Grand Forks North Dakota Native and Grand Forks Red River High hockey player Grant Potulny is now the assistant coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. If you think about this; Grant was one of the first non-Minnesotans to play for the University of Minnesota since probably John Blue and then was a big reason the Gophers won the first of two back to back NCAA titles. So the University has come full circle.

Two recent University of Minnesota men’s hockey standouts have been added to the Gophers’ coaching staff for the 2009-10 season.

Grant Potulny, who was named a volunteer assistant coach in May, has been elevated to a full-time position following a national search process. In addition, Justin Johnson has been named the team’s volunteer goaltending coach. Both were members of Minnesota’s national championship teams in 2002 and 2003 with Potulny serving as a team captain each year.

“I’m excited to bring both Grant and Justin back into the program,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “They were both part of our two national championship teams and have a great understanding of what it takes to win at that level. They are proud alums and committed and excited to be back as a part of Gopher hockey.”

“It was just six years ago that I was in the same spots as these guys,” Potulny said of the current Gophers’ team. “Don and John (Hill) do an amazing job and I think I bring some youthful energy as somebody who can bring a different element to what we’re doing already.”

Potulny, 29, has served as the interim assistant coach for the past month since the resignation of Mike Hastings. He has been playing professionally since his career with the Gophers that spanned from 2000-04. He was an assistant captain as a sophomore for Minnesota’s 2002 national championship team and then captained the team the following two years, including the Gophers’ 2003 national title squad.

“Those were the best four years of my life,” Potulny said of his days with the Gophers. “I truly believe that every kid who comes to Minnesota should have a chance to play in the Frozen Four and I’d love to help make that happen.”

“As a three-year captain, Grant was a tremendous leader and was well respected by his teammates,” Lucia said. “As an interim assistant coach over the past month, I’ve had the opportunity to watch him interact with players and coaches at our model camp and select-16 festival and coach at the select-17 festival in New York. I have had numerous people come up to me and tell me how impressed they were with Grant. He will bring instant credibility based on what he did as a player and captain here and bring new insights after playing professionally the past five years.”

Potulny recently retired from pro hockey after battling injuries throughout his career. He was injured most of this past season, which he spent with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate in Norfolk (Va.). He competed three full seasons with the Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate in Binghamton (N.Y.) from 2004-07 before spending one season each with the Washington Capitals’ affiliate in Hershey (Pa.) and the Edmonton Oilers’ affiliate in Springfield (Mass.).

Potulny played in 146 games for the Gophers, totaling 68 goals and 48 assists for 116 points. He is best-known for scoring the overtime game-winning goal in Minnesota’s 4-3 win over Maine in the 2002 national championship game at the Xcel Energy Center.

Johnson, 28, was a volunteer assistant coach at St. Cloud State the past three seasons. Johnson was a four-year letterwinner for the Gophers from 2002-05, posting a 2.88 goals against average and 22-8-3 career record. He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2003 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five after stopping 50 of 54 shots. Johnson was a three-time recipient of the team’s community service award.

“I felt it was extremely important that we have somebody who can work with the goaltenders and Justin has been working with goalies since he graduated,” Lucia said. “Also working with Mental Edge, he can bring added insights to players and coaches on the psychological aspects of the game. Justin has worked in the WCHA over the last three years and has an understanding of what it takes to compete as a player and coach at this level.”

“It’s almost like coming home for me,” Johnson said. “With the talent they have all around and in net it’s going to be an exciting season and I’m really looking forward to it.

“I’ve known Kent (Patterson) since he was a Pee Wee in camps and we have a great relationship,” he added. “Being at St. Cloud, we did a lot of film analysis on Alex (Kangas) and figuring out how to beat him. He’s an outstanding goalie and I’m very familiar with his game as well.”

In addition to his coaching duties, Johnson has instructed at former Gopher Robb Stauber’s Goalcrease and The Mental Edge, which mentors athletes of all ages and abilities by developing mental toughness skills. He has published an interactive and customized preparation manual for hockey goalies titled “GameDay.”
[Gopher Sports]

Holy Cow! Check out this letter to the editor.

This was a letter to the editor in the Bemidji Pioneer. The only thing I can say is that you've got to be kidding me. The city of Bemidji held a city wide referendum, voted and approved the construction of the BREC, yet this guy thinks it taking to food of the tables of people that haven't even been born yet. Yeah! Also, how the hell does this guy know if the center is going to turn a profit or not? Apparently this economic theorist isn't aware of the financial impact the WCHA have on his community.

WCHA not biggest news

Arrogance, pompous, egotistical and self-serving were the first words that came to mind after reading Tom Serratore’s comments about BSU men’s hockey team being accepted into the WCHA. To say that “There’s not any news that has ever impacted this community and university like being inducted into this prestigious conference,” is lunacy. Throughout the history of this community and the university there have been numerous events that have made a huge impact on the lives of people living in this area and beyond. Perhaps the largest of these would be the actually founding of the university (Bemidji State Normal School.)

Followed by the school’s evolution from elementary teacher training to the multi-disciplined institute of higher learning that it is today. (If Cass Lake had gotten its way, there would be no college hockey in Bemidji.) Mr. Serratore seems to be suffering from extreme shortsightedness. He is correct in one statement. “There are people who aren’t born yet who will be impacted by the WCHA.” Since getting into the WCHA was contingent on BSU getting a new hockey rink, (event center) and by many accounts the new hockey rink/event center will never turn a profit, the yet unborn will be impacted by having to subsidize the center.

Matt Havumaki

Bemidji

Education of an A.D.: Alberts Is a Quick Study

[Props] Here is an interesting article that appeared in the New York Times on the UNO Mavericks. While I can't stand the New York Times political slant they do have decent college and professional hockey coverage and some really nice blog articles. I also think the Hockey blogger has a very cool name in Stu Hackel.

As a college hockey fan I have to say that I have been very impressed with the direction that Trev Alberts has taken the UNO hockey program since he was hired at UNO. First he hired former UND hockey coach Dean Blais, gained membership in the WCHA and hired a good assistant coach in Mike Hastings.

It is going to be interesting to see how the Mavericks do in their last season in the CCHA. I also wonder how long it will take before Dean Blais has the Mavericks challenging the elite teams in the WCHA for home ice playoff spot, MacNaughton Cup and or Broadmoor Trophy?

Facing a tight deadline, Alberts tapped boosters for nearly $400,000 so he could lure Dean Blais, a two-time national champion at North Dakota, to coach men’s hockey, Nebraska-Omaha’s only Division I program.

Alberts also leveraged financial concessions from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association as a condition of admitting the Mavericks. On a conference call announcing the acceptance of Nebraska-Omaha and Bemidji State late last month, Bruce McLeod, the conference commissioner, told Alberts, “Trev, you can be one tough guy to deal with, and I’ve got the scars to prove it.”

Alberts is trying to rework the hockey team’s lease at the Qwest Center downtown. The university pays rent and receives nothing from parking or concessions, Alberts said.

“He has been able to open doors I couldn’t get close to,” said Don Leahy, a former Nebraska-Omaha athletic director whom Alberts brought back as a part-time associate athletic director. [New York Times]

Looking back.

On November 8, 2008 DU hockey beat writer Mike Chambers wrote this article and caused a fire storm with the blog post below. Looking forward, as of this date Mr. Chambers is probably smiling and looking pretty good. The AHA has accepted Robert Morris and Niagara to be in their league. The WCHA is in the process of recruiting UNO to be their twelfth member to go along with BSU. Moving east, the team from the University of Alabama-Huntsville has applied for membership in the CCHA. When UNO and or UAF leave the CCHA for the WCHA UAH will be a natural choice to become the twelfth team of the CCHA, hence saving two teams from certain death.

I have seen some people that aren’t happy with the realignment process don’t like the idea of the WCHA becoming a twelve team league. The status quo will not help college hockey. The alternative to the twelve team league is to say the hell with UAH and BSU let these two teams wither and die on the vine, this option is unacceptable. If college hockey allowed that to happen what college or university would want to start a division one hockey program in the future?

Currently There are 58 teams in Division one hockey; if the NCAA lost two to three more teams, there is a very good chance the NCAA would pull the 2-4 at large bids from the NCAA tourney, that too is unacceptable and the decrease in bids would hit the have not the most. This is not a road I would like to see the NCAA hockey tourney go down.

Seriously, reducing 2-4 at large bids could definitely affect a team close to one of us, but oh yeah we got to play Minnesota, Wisconsin and or North Dakota. So I ask WCHA fans what you would rather have a chance to see the Gophers, Badger, Sioux or a better chance for your team to make the NCAA tourney. I am going to take the NCAA tourney option. Most of us that have followed college hockey know that in a one and done tourney anything can happen. It doesn’t matter if you’re a one seed or a sixteen seed; just ask Michigan and Notre Dame.

College hockey conference realignment
Mike Chambers ----- Conference expansion is on its way, folks. Because of the looming demise of College Hockey America, don’t be surprised if the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and the Atlantic Hockey Association go from 10 to 12 teams, with Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha joining the WCHA and Robert Morris and Niagara going to the AHA.

This isn’t just opinon. In true blog form, I can’t divulge my sources at this time because things are too political — which is why this issue won’t make the paper right now — but this is what is being discussed by conference commissioners. And it makes sense.

CHA currently has Robert Morris, Alabama-Huntsville, Niagara and Bemidji State. It’s a joke, because the four-team conference gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament for its playoff champion, and judging from history, teams in other conferences with far better numbers in the Pairwise Rankings get left out. That’s going to change.

Robert Morris and Niagara have applied for entrance to the AHA. If they are accepted, the AHA will go from 10 to 12 teams.

What we need next — and this is the big one — is for Nebraska-Omaha to apply to the WCHA, and get accepted along with Bemidji State, which previously applied and is a terrific fit. UNO, which currently plays in the CCHA, will be replaced by Alabama-Huntsville.

UNO is a natural fit for the WCHA, with strong state rivalries with Colorado and Minnesota. Alabama-Huntsville isn’t a fit for anyone, but … if UAH goes to the CCHA, we would have five conferences with a near equal amount of teams.