It's too bad that there aren't any professional development camps close by, like maybe the Ralph, where a hockey fan could come watch some of the action and take some pictures. It will be interesting to see how Zach Budish does this season after missing all of last winter with a knee injury.
Hockey is not an inexpensive sport by any means. High-end equipment, registration fees, and travel expenses are all part of the commitment a hockey player and that player’s family are forced to endure to continue playing the sport they love. For the players at the Development Camp, they see the financial outlay as money well spent both in terms of their hockey education and the message their presence sends to the Predators.
“It sends the right message to the organization that you want to be here and you want to play in Nashville one day,” forward Nick Oliver said. “I think it is a great tool for college guys to come here to help them get prepared for their upcoming seasons. I’m going to try and learn a lot here.”
The 6’3” 184-pound Oliver is headed for St. Cloud State University in the fall. He was selected in the 4th round (110th overall) of last month’s Entry Draft.
“It’s a big week in our development, and gets us started off on the right note,” Budish said. “I just got drafted a couple of weeks ago, so I wanted to come down here, have a good experience, and learn a lot of things hopefully.”
The 18-year-old Budish already possesses NHL size at 6’3” and 229 pounds. He is recovering from a torn ACL sustained in a high school football game last fall. That injury prevented him from playing his senior hockey season at Edina High in Edina, Minnesota. Had Budish not sustained the knee injury, there was a good chance he would have been selected in the first round of the Entry Draft. Nashville selected him in the second round with the 41st overall pick.
Budish, who will play for the University of Minnesota in the fall, credited his parents for their financial contribution allowing him to come to Nashville [Examiner.com]
Here is the Team USA roster for the U.S. Olympic Hockey Teams Ice Hockey orientation camp. There is a nice mix of ex NCAA and CHL players.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Hockey today announced that 34 players, representing 22National Hockey League teams, have been invited to the U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Orientation Camp from Aug. 17-19, at Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, Ill.
2009 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Orientation Camp Roster
Goaltenders: Ryan Miller (MSU), Jonathan Quick (UMASS), Tim Thomas (UVM) Defensemen: Tom Gilbert (UW), Tim Gleason (OHL), Ron Hainsey (UML), Erik Johnson(UMN), Jack Johnson (UM), Mike Komisarek (UM), Paul Martin (UMN), Brooks Orpik (B.C.), Brian Rafalski (UW), Rob Scuderi (B.C.), Ryan Suter (UW), Ryan Whitney (BU).
Forwards: David Backes (MSU-M), David Booth (MSU), Dustin Brown (OHL), Dustin Byfuglien (WHL), Ryan Callahan (OHL), Chris Drury (BU), Scott Gomez (WHL), Patrick Kane (OHL), Ryan Kesler (OSU), Phil Kessel (UMN), Jamie Langenbrunner (OHL), Ryan Malone (SCSU), Mike Modano (WHL), Kyle Okposo (UMN), T.J. Oshie (UND), Zach Parise (UND), Joe Pavelski (UW), Bobby Ryan (OHL), Paul Stastny (DU).
Six of the 10 WCHA teams have a representative at the camp.
Wisconsin has four (Tom Gilbert, Brian Rafalski, Ryan Suter and Joe Pavelski), Minnesota has four (Paul Martin, Erik Johnson, Phil Kessel and Kyle Okposo), St. Cloud State has Ryan Malone, MSU-Mankato has David Backes and Denver has Paul Stastny.
Key
(UM) = Michigan (UMN) = Minnesota (UML) = U Mass Lowell
Apparently Coach Jacques Lemaire is not all that happy with Avalanche uber hack Cody McCormick for his vicious cross check on Cal Clutterbuck in the last game against the Av's. You have got to love this quote by Jacques that I bolded. Mike Russo is spot on that former MTU Husky John Scott rocked McCormick's ass in a very good fight. Of course the horse collar tackle at the end by McCormick was a bush league move.
Seriously, I am sick and tired of seeing these punks/agitators skate around the ice and take liberties with people and then watching the refs not make the proper call. The league doesn't look very good when they have to go back and review game tape, then have to go back and suspend the player ex-post facto. In my opinion I thought it was a major penalty at the time. NHL ref Don VanMassenhoven is probably one of the worst refs in the National Hockey League.
Colorado’s Cody McCormick got suspended two games for cross-checking Cal Clutterbuck in the head last night. I was sitting with Doug Risebrough when I got the email, showed it to him and he said, “Is that all? That’s my quote.”
Coach Jacques Lemaire said the referees last night weren’t going to call any penalties on it because Don VanMassenhoven didn’t see it. So Lemaire told VanMassenhoven, “You better tell your partner to call something because [McCormick’s] going to get suspended.” In other words, Lemaire was telling referee Ian Walsh there better be a penalty or it would be embarrassing for the men in stripes. Lemaire, by the way, used me as the dummy to demonstrate what McCormick did. Luckily, Lemaire avoided my face with his stick by I’d say a good, I don’t know, HALF INCH!
Walsh assessed a double minor. Later, Clutterbuck got cross-checked in the face again, this time by John-Michael Liles. VanMassenhoven nailed Clutterbuck for diving, too, probably because the ref felt he was miraculously back way too soon after being on the ice so long from the previous incident.
Lemaire said, “Trust me, he was shook up. What’s he got to get 50 stitches or a broken jaw?”
McCormick, who by the way got his clock cleaned by John Scott in Scott’s first NHL bout, is eligible to return against the Wild on Tuesday during another rare visit in St. Paul for Minnesota. (read the whole story here)
***Apparently Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough is not happy with the way his team practiced yesterday and is tired of listening to excuses from them about being tired. I am not sure how people can even take this clown seriously anymore? Doug Risebrough has run this team into the ground should start taking some ownership for this and maybe his team's play is so poor is because they are playing to their abilities. Ever think the reason the Wild couldn't score for 6 minutes of power play time was that you have 4-5 people on this team that can score a team full of third and fourth liners. Holy Cow Risebrough you're killing me here.
Risebrough said he's also tired of hearing how the Wild's arduous late-season road schedule is exhausting the team.
"They played yesterday [in Denver], they got up at 8 a.m. to catch a 9 a.m. bus to be on a 10 o'clock plane, where they flew first class with some really good food," Risebrough said. "They got here at 12:30 and they're on the ice now. What will they do now when they're finished at 3? Go to the hotel and sleep.
"At home, they'd go for a new car or their wife will say, 'I haven't been out for dinner in a while,' or, 'You haven't seen Johnny play hockey in a month.' The road is nothing. I know I'm making light of it. But come on. This is not a tough life.
"It's all in here," Risebrough said, pointing to his head.
"We can't have any excuse grabbers. Those are the ones who are going to fail because it's just easier to fail. It's hard work to succeed, but it's easy to fail." (Click here for the whole article)
Moron of the Week
Here is our candidate for the moron of the Week. Maybe this Skippy should have sobered up before he wrote this gem. I would be willing to bet he is probably a doctoral candidate in rocket science from the University of Minnesota. First off the Sioux are tied for 5th in the power ranking while DU is ranked 3rd, not a very big separation. Second UND beat DU 8-3 and tied them the following night. Also lets not forget that the Sioux, swept the Gophers 6-3 and 6-1 exposing the Gophers and showing the rest of the league that the Gophers are a very weak hockey team. I would have to say you failed miserably in your attempt Skippy.
Get a life Flickertail fans Why do we constantly see posts from jealous UND Flickertail fans on Gopher articles in the MINNEAPOLIS paper's web site? Doesn't Grand Forks offer anything for Flickertail fans to spew out lame comments? Hey, UND, we don't care about you, your precious hockey team, or the fact that you finished near the top in a down league this season. As far as being the best team in the WCHA, according to an earlier post, how do you explain being behind Denver in the Pairwise, and tied for 7th in the country in the those same rankings? That would indicate to me, that your squad is far from being "The best". Heck, Minnesota is only a few slots behind UND in the Pairwise, and they have had a terrible second half of the season. Maybe you should start thinking about sand bagging for the big flood and stop wasting your time making senseless posts on a Minneapolis paper's web site?!
