Minnesota Wild Announce New ECHL Affiliate

There has been a lot of hockey news in the past day or so, and more coming from the Minnesota Wild camp today as well, and no it isn't anything about the Darcy Kuemper situation. The Wild have announced an affiliation with the ECHL's Alaska Aces.

The Aces have been very successful as a franchise in the past few seasons, winning three Kelly Cup Championships in the past nine seasons, including this past season.

Included in the agreement, according to wild.com, the Aces will serve as a resource for developmental efforts for both Iowa (AHL) and Minnesota.

UND fans may take notice at a familiar face on the Aces roster, and now in the Minnesota Wild system, Evan Trupp. Trupp played four years at UND and was a member of the Aces for their championship winning team last season.

Tuesday Links: Hockey Focused, It's the Stretch Run...

With the Injury to New York Islanders forward John Tavares, other players on the Islanders are going to have an opportunity to play more. One of them is former UND forward Brock Nelson. (TSN.CA)

The Islanders, 12 points out of a playoff spot, weren't going to contend for the postseason this year and are already preparing to move LW Thomas Vanek prior to the March 5th trade deadline. Under those circumtances, there will be some opportunities available for other Islanders, rookies Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson among them, to play more prominent offensive roles.

Former UND forward Evan Trupp is playing with the Corban Knight on the Abbotsford Heat. Trupp has scored (1g-4a—5pts) in 10 games this season.

Apparently Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kessler returned from the Sochi game with an injury.

Former UND and current Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise stood up and defended Olympic coach Dan Bylsma. Mike Russo has the details on his blog.

The Stanley Cup of Chowder profiles Zane Gothberg this week. No mention of the him getting the NCHC goalie of the week.

Thursday at the Links - Trupp, Parise and Chicago Hockey City Classic and more

Good Thursday morning and we are another day closer to hockey season – if my math is correct we are approximately 37 days away from the first exhibition game between the Fighting Sioux UND Hockey and the Manitoba Bison.

Andy Johnson aka Chuck Schwartz from Bucky’s Fifth Quarter has an interesting article on how they were surprised when they got the ticket prices for the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field – I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that the tickets are expensive between $65.00 and $75.00.

Joe from Paisley’s Hockey has his Thursday links up and Former C.C. Tiger Jaden Schwartz was recently at an NHL rookie symposium - it will be interesting to see where Schwartz starts the season for the St. Louis Blues.

Sabrina Diaz of the Daily Nebraskan suggested that the University of Nebraska Lincoln add hockey – Big Ten hockey could be worthy addition for UNL

Former Fighting Sioux forward Evan Trupp has re-signed with the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors.
[Doyle Woody], [A Tradition of Excellence], [Bakersfield Condors]

CONDORSTOWN, Calif. --- Trupp, 24, was acquired via trade with Cincinnati in January andplayed 45 games in 2011-12 with 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points. He broke out with the Condors though, amassing 22 points (10g-12a) in 25 games, missing some time due to injury. The Anchorage, Alaska native earned ECHL Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 6-12 as he became an internet and viral sensation for his lacrosse-style, behind-the-net goal against Las Vegas on Feb. 11.

Prior to turning pro, the 5’10″, 180 lbs. forward played four seasons at the University of North Dakota where he registered 108 points (40g-68a) in 157 games including 78 points over his junior and senior campaigns.

“What I enjoy most about the team is that we get along well on and off the ice,” said Trupp. “I would get texts and calls throughout the summer from guys letting me know they were coming back and I want to be a part of that. There are great fans in Bakersfield, a great facility, a great rink and I enjoyed last season. I think with a little more experience under our belt now, we’ll be pretty good this season.”

Evgeni Malkin and a few others plan to make plans to play elsewhere when if there is a work stoppage in the NHL this season..

This was from Puck Daddy - From Cap Geek, the 16 teams that are over a $58 million salary cap threshold noticed the two teams at the top:

Boston Bruins ($68,867,976)
Minnesota Wild ($68,848,867)
Vancouver Canucks ($67,768,333)
Calgary Flames ($66,668,332)
Philadelphia Flyers ($66,643,373)
San Jose Sharks ($65,241,667)
Montreal Canadiens ($63,897,976)
Tampa Bay Lightning ($63,246,916)
Edmonton Oilers ($62,933,333)
Toronto Maple Leafs ($62,873,333)
Chicago Blackhawks ($62,445,128)
Los Angeles Kings ($62,320,227)
Buffalo Sabres ($61,542,023)
Pittsburgh Penguins ($60,263,333)
Washington Capitals ($59,627,905)
New York Rangers ($58,508,334)

Here is an interesting read on everyone's favorite Commish - Grange on NHL: Big man in the boardroom...

Tony Gallagher, The Province - NHL players brought some of this on themselves...

Yesterday Michael Russo Star Tribune beat writer for the Minnesota Wild was at the Octagon Pro Hockey Camp in St. Louis Park Minnesota and got former Fighting Sioux All-American Zach Parise take on the CBA negotiations.

Here is Parise:

I’m still optimistic that we’ll all be able to figure it out with the amount of time that we have left. I’m just trying to be hopeful and optimistic about it, so we’ll find out some reaction about what [union chief] Don [Fehr] thinks about the NHL’s proposal in the next couple days.

For whatever reason, [lockouts] seem to be what Gary likes to do. Whether this time around it’s a negotiating tactic or what, you’d hope that he’s smart enough to realize that as a league, the fanbases, with the momentum that the league has gotten, that it wouldn’t be a good idea to have a lockout.

I thought the first proposal was embarrassing. Embarrassing. If you look at it in the long run, in my opinion, it was a quick fix for them, but I feel seven years down the road, it’s not addressing the problem and we’re going to be in the exact same spot where we are now. I could go on for a long time, but I thought it was a joke.

Zach Parise told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the players are ready to play.

"I think the '04-'05 season is still pretty fresh in everyone's minds, and now we find ourselves in the same position," Parise said after a workout in St. Louis Park on Tuesday, Aug. 26. "It's not good for the game. It's not good for anyone. We're ready to play. We want to play. But (NHL commissioner) Gary (Bettman)'s pretty adamant about his third lockout of his tenure."

Evan Trupp's awesome goal

Former Fighting Sioux forward Evan Trupp shows off his scoring prowess with a lacrosse style goal. You had to figure it was just a matter of time before he scored on one of these shots.

Related articles

• Chris Donovan vs. Evan Trupp (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Chris Donovan vs. Evan Trupp

Former Fighting Sioux forward Evan Trupp got into a fight with Utah Grizzlies forward Chris Donovan... I didn't take long to figure out why Trupp got into a fight with Donovan, if you look closely you will see that Donovan slew foots Trupp.

Trupp's not know for his fisticuffs, did pretty well in the fight and his team the Bakersfield Condors beat the Utah Grizzlies 4-0 in the game as well.

In case anyone is wondering Donovan played his college hockey at North Eastern University. 

Related articles

• A trip down memory lane with Trupp. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Evan Trupp's Slick move...

This is an unbelievable move. Evan Trupp's stick handling display brought the Xcel Energy Center to it's feet and energized Sioux fans. When asked about the Trupp Play Matt Frattin had this to say, “I was breaking to the net there and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I should pull up or what. He’s been doing things like that. . . he did something like that last year at the Final Five, too. He’s got a creative side. ”