This sums it up well.

It was announced today that Wild goalie Josh Harding has MS.

#mnwild goalie Josh Harding diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, vows to overcome it, succeed with it #NHL strib.mn/Srptzu
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) November 29, 2012

Updated College Hockey TV schedule

Originally posted at The Hockey Writers – Combine…

If you have been scanning twitter and the various NHL webpages on the Internet you will realized that the NHL owners and NHL Players Association are nowhere near signing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.  It’s almost as if the NHL is bound and determined to ruin the NHL in North America for good as they march towards this bizarre form of fratricide.

The two sides look like a bunch of spoiled five year olds fighting over a toy at daycare.
According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, the NHL is going to announce today that the league will be cancelling the entire schedule in November.

You see where this is going? The entire season hangs in the balance and is in jeopardy if the two sides don’t get back to the negotiating table.

I love the NHL and I spend hours every winter watching the greatest game on the planet, but as this lockout continues, I have become so disgruntled with the current state of affairs in the NHL, that I have almost stopped entirely looking at my favorite NHL pages. Recently, I have stuck mostly to amateur hockey leagues like the USHL, NAHL, CHL and NCAA hockey webpages.

So now that we have discussed the depressing subject that is the NHL = No Hockey League, you can settle in tonight and watch some college hockey and here is the updated schedule of college hockey games.
You can check your local listing but FCS is on the following DirecTV channels 617, 623, 626. As of right now, Dish Network does not include Fox College Sports. Games with a (C) are also available in Canada.

Fri.	Oct. 26		Anchorage at UND	FSC/Midco	7:37pm	623
Sat.	Oct. 27		Anchorage at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	626
Sun.	Oct. 28		Canisius at Minnesota	FS North	2 p.m.	668/436
Fri.	Nov. 2		BU at UND	FCS/Midco/NESN	7:37pm	TBD/686/434
Fri.	Nov. 2		Minnesota State at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Nov. 3		BU at UND	FCS/Midco/NESN	7:07pm	TBD/628/434
Sat.	Nov. 3		Minnesota at Minnesota State	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 9		Boston University at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Thu.	Nov. 15		Notre Dame at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 15		UMD at UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	TBD
Fri	Nov. 16		UMD at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 16		Harvard at Cornell	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 pm	603 / 159
Fri.	Nov. 16		Wisconsin at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 16		Denver at Colorado College	Altitude	9:30 p.m.	681 / 410
Sat.	Nov. 17		Colorado College at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Nov. 17		Wisconsin at Minnesota	BTN	9 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 23		Minnesota at Vermont	FS North +	7 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 23		Colgate at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Sat.	Nov. 24		Minnesota at Vermont	FS North	7 p.m.	668 / 436
Fri.	Nov. 30		Boston College at Boston University	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 pm	603 / 159
Fri.	Nov. 30		Ohio State at Michigan State	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 30		Vermont at Maine	CBS Sports Net.	8 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 30		Nebraska-Omaha at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Sat.	Dec. 1		Boston University at Boston College	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Dec. 1		Nebraska-Omaha at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 1		Denver University at UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 7		Michigan State at Notre Dame	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Dec. 7		Harvard at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Dec 8		Denver University at UND	FCS/MIDCO	7:07pm	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 7		Minnesota at Colorado College	FS North +	9:30 p.m.	TBD
Sat.	Dec. 8		Maine at Boston University	CBS Sports Net.	8 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Dec. 8		Minnesota at Colorado College	FS North +	9 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 14		Miami at Ohio State	BTN	7 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Dec. 14		Western Michigan at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Thu.	Dec. 27		Michigan State vs. Western Michigan	FS Detroit	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Thu.	Dec. 27		Michigan vs. Michigan Tech	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Dec. 28		GLI Third-Place Game	FS Detroit	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Dec. 28		GLI Championship Game	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Dec. 29		Air Force at Minnesota	FS North +	TBD	TBD
Sat.	Dec. 29		Boston University at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Dec. 30		Boston College at Minnesota	FS North +	TBD	TBD
Fr.	Jan. 4		Holy Cross at UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	TBD
Fri.	Jan. 4		Colorado College at Nebraska-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 4		Robert Morris at Army	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 4		Cornell at Denver	ROOT Sports	9:30 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Jan. 5		Holy Cross at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07	TBD
Sat.	Jan. 5		Merrimack at Vermont	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Tue.	Jan. 8		Bowling Green at Michigan	BTN	7:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Tue.	Jan. 8		Notre Dame at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Jan. 11		Colorado College at UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	TBD
Fri.	Jan. 11		New Hampshire at Boston College	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Jan. 11		Union at Princeton	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 11		Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota	BTN	9 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 11		Nebraska-Omaha at Denver	NBC Sports Net.	10 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Jan. 12		Army at Air Force	CBS Sports Net.	6 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Jan. 12		Colorado College at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Sat.	Jan. 12		Alaska at Michigan	FS Detroit +	7:30 p.m.	664 / TBD
Sat.	Jan. 12		Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Jan. 12		Nebraska-Omaha at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Fri.	Jan. 18		Northeastern at Boston University	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Jan. 18		Harvard at Yale	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 18		Ferris State at Michigan State	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Jan. 18		North Dakota at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Jan. 19		North Dakota at Minnesota	FS North	6 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Jan. 19		Alaska at Notre Dame	CBS Sports Net	7 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 25		Maine at Boston College	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Jan. 25		Yale at Cornell	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 25		Ferris State at Notre Dame	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 25		Saint Cloud State at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Fri.	Jan. 25		Minnesota State at Minnesota	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Jan. 26		Penn State at Michigan State	BTN	6 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Jan. 26		Saint Cloud State at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Sat.	Jan. 26		Providence at Boston University	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Jan. 26		Michigan at Western Michigan	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Jan. 26		Minnesota at Minnesota State	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Fri.	Feb. 1		Michigan State at Michigan	BTN	6:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 1		UMass Lowell at Merrimack	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Feb. 1		University of Wisconsin at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Fri.	Feb. 1		Dartmouth at Union	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Feb. 2		Michigan vs. Michigan State (JLA)	FS Detroit	4 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Feb. 2		University of Wisconsin at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Fri.	Feb. 8		North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 8		Michigan at Notre Dame	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 8		Minnesota at St. Cloud State	FS North +	8:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Feb. 8		Colorado College at Denver	ROOT Sports	9:30 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Feb. 9		Massachusetts at Merrimack	NESN	3:30 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Feb. 9		Minnesota at St. Cloud State	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Sun.	Feb. 10		Providence at New Hampshire	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Northern Michigan at Michigan State	BTN	6:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Boston University at Maine	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 15		Notre Dame at Miami	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15		Minnesota at Wisconsin	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Feb. 16		Bowling Green at Ferris State	FS Detroit	5 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Feb. 16		Boston University at Maine	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Feb. 16		Northern Michigan at Michigan State	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sun.	Feb. 17		Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (Soldier Field)	BTN	4:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sun.	Feb. 17		Notre Dame vs. Miami (Soldier Field)	FS Detroit	TBD	663 / 430
Fri.	Feb. 22		New Hampshire at Vermont	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Feb. 22		Yale at Quinnipiac	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 22		Notre Dame at Western Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 22		Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Feb. 22		North Dakota at Denver	NBC Sports Net.	10 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Feb. 23		New Hampshire at Vermont	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Feb. 23		Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Feb. 23		North Dakota at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Sun.	Feb. 24		Boston College at Merrimack	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 1		Wisconsin at Nebraska-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 1		Ferris State at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 1		Bemidji State at UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	TBD
Fri.	Mar. 1		Denver at Minnesota	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Mar. 2		Hockey East Game TBD	NESN	4 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Mar. 2		Bemidji State at UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm
Sat.	Mar. 2		Ferris State at Michigan	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 2		Denver at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sun.	Mar. 3		UMass Lowell at Merrimack	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 8		Maine at New Hampshire	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 8		Boston University at Northeastern	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 8		Massachusetts at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Mar. 8		Minnesota at Bemidji State	FS North	8:30 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Mar. 9		Minnesota at Bemidji State	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Mar 15		TBD vs UND	FCS/Midco	7:37pm	TBD
Fri.	Mar. 15		Hockey East Quarterfinal	NBC Sports Net.	7 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 15		CCHA Second Round	FS Detroit	7 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 15		TBD vs. UND	FCS/Midco	7:07pm	TBD
Sat.	Mar. 16		Hockey East Quarterfinal	NESN	4 p.m.	628 / 434
Sun.	Mar. 17		Hockey East Quarterfinal	NESN	4:30 p.m.	628 / 434
Thu.	Mar. 21		WCHA Final Five	FSN	2:00/7:07	668/ 436
Thu.	Mar. 22		WCHA Final Five	FSN	2:00/7:07	668/ 436
Fri.	Mar. 22		Hockey East Semifinal	NBC Sports Net.	4 p.m.
Fri.	Mar. 22		Hockey East Semifinal	NBC Sports Net.	7 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Mar. 23		CCHA Semifinal	FS Detroit	1 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Mar. 23		CCHA Semifinal	FS Detroit	4:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 23		Hockey East Championship	NBC Sports Net.	7 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 23		WCHA Final Five	FSN	7:00pm	668/ 436
Sun.	Mar. 24		CCHA Championship	FS Detroit	2 p.m.	603 / 159
Sun.	Mar. 24		NCAA Selection Show	ESPNU	9 p.m.	663 / 430
			NCAA Regional Coverage	ESPNU	TBD	208 / 141
Thu.	Apr. 11		NCAA Semifinal	TBD	4:30 p.m.	208 / 141
Thu.	Apr. 11		NCAA Semifinal	TBD	8 p.m.
Sat.	Apr. 13		NCAA Championship	TBD	7 p.m.

Parise and Suter signings didn't go unnoticed

I don’t think that anyone one is going to feel sorry for the NHL owners during the upcoming CBA negotiations when they say we’re broke and we can’t afford to play these big exuberant salaries anymore… Seriously! No one is going to feel sorry for the owners – especially after the Minnesota Wild’s owner signed two players for a total of 196 million dollars. I just don’t see there being a lot of empathy – especially for the Wild owner Craig Leipold.

I would imagine that the players have been watching these players’ signings as well.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune --- Leipold responded Monday, saying, "Listen: We've been losing money and the way we were going, we were going to have another year of 'keep losing more money and more money and more money.' So if I'm going to make the kind of financial commitment to keep this team and move this forward, I'd rather do it growing it.

"Ultimately that was the decision. As a result of this move, it's not going to cause us to be financially stable. I believe it will be within a year or two. This is a move to get us out of the hole that we've been digging. And as I spoke with some other owners in the league as to why I did it, they totally get it. They understand it. At some point you have to make that kind of commitment in order to turn your franchise around. If we didn't, then we would just keep losing more going forward without any plan of changing it."

Ironically, the day after the spending spree, Leipold was one of the owners who sat in the bargaining session between the NHL and NHL Players' Association in New York. The league has moved to terminate the collective bargaining agreement and negotiate another. The current agreement expires Sept. 15, and the league is in danger of a lockout. In 2004-05, the season was wiped out because of a lockout.

The hockey world has been a buzz since the big signing in Minnesota and you can bet that executive director of the National Hockey League Players Association Donald Fehr took note of the signing as well.

The owners want to move to a 50/50 revenue split; currently the players are at 57-43 revenue split. If the players are to accept the 50/50 number would mean that means the players are going to have their salaries rolled back. This could end up being a long fight especially with the recent signing in the NHL during free agency.

So you say that there's a chance...

According to Michael Russo, Beat writer of the Minnesota Wild for the Star Tribune, the Wild are still in the mix for teams he New Jersey Devils and former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Zach Parise could sign with.

Zach Parise's agent Wade Arnott says that his client has narrowed his list of teams to a "select few," and according to sources, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher has been informed the Wild is on that list.

Anthony LaPanta is going to be the play-by-play for the Wild

I posted on the on Sunday, that Michael Russo of the Star and Tribune was reporting on Russo's Rants  that Anthony LaPanta was going to be selected to be the play-by-play voice of the Minnesota Wild on FSN. This story kind of went viral - Minnesota Wild fans are not happy with the selection of LaPanta. In fact, it's getting down right ugly and here is a sample of a few of the recent tweets that I found. You can also see some of the comments here at the Star and Tribune site.

While I am not really a fan of LaPanta per se - I am not a hater of LaPanta either. So I guess I don't know what all of the furor is about either, who did the fans think that FSN was going to hire, they already have a person on payroll so they don't really have to bring anyone else in it makes sense from a business stand point.

While there probably are better choices than LaPanta - is this really an issue that Wild fans need to get totally bent out of shape about? I have listened to LaPanta a lot while he was the play-by-play for the Minnesota Gopher broadcasts on FSN, I don't think he did that bad of a job. 

Controversial non call in St Cloud

While I was at the Sioux game versus the Badgers, and my twitter blew up and this the goal by the Huskies was the play that set the Gopher fans off.

So did the refs blow the call? Is this indicative of WCHA officiating? It looks like Nate Condon was hacked and pulled down causing an opportunity going the other way and Ben Hanowski scores on Patterson.

Here is what the Star Tribune had to say on the matter.

Even so, the Huskies scored the only goal of the first period. One second Nate Condon had a near breakaway for the Gophers before being separated from the puck.

The next, SCSU had an odd-man rush that ended with Ben Hanowski sliding the puck underneath Gophers goalie Kent Patterson.

Gophers coach Don Lucia chewed out the referee who dared skate over to the visitors' bench. Lucia wanted a hooking call on Condon's rush.

Pray For Jack Jablonski

It's truly a tragic thing event. You have to feel for the parents of Jack. Never met the kid, don't know him but I couldn't make it through the video without getting tears in my eyes. According to the Star Tribune the prognosis for Jack Jablonski is not very good.

The neurosurgeon who operated on Jack Jablonski, the Benilde-St. Margaret's High School hockey player paralyzed from a hit last week during a game, outlined a somber long-term prognosis Thursday for the 16-year-old sophomore and said "we can't expect much recovery."

Along with no use of his legs, Dr. Walter Galicich said in a news briefing that it's "very unlikely" that Jablonski will regain the use of his arms from the elbows down.

Related articles

• Benilde-St. Margaret's Jack Jablonski hurt by dangerous check (mvn.com)
• High School Hockey Player Jack Jablonski Paralyzed After Collision on the Ice (bleacherreport.com)
• High-School Hockey Player Suffers Severed Spinal Cord After Accidental Check [Horrific Injuries] (deadspin.com)
• Minn. prep hockey player paralyzed during game (mysanantonio.com)

Benilde-St. Margaret's Jack Jablonski hurt by dangerous check

First off our thought and prayers go out to Jack "Jabby" Jablonski, this is an unfortunate event that you never want to see happen to anyone.

Dan Browning, Star Tribune --- Known as "Jabby" to his friends, the 16-year-old honors student, hockey forward and varsity tennis player at Benilde-St. Margaret's scored the first goal of what would be a victory for the junior varsity Red Knights against Wayzata during the Holiday Hockey Classic tournament at the St. Louis Park Recreation Center.

Jack's team was up by one goal 5 minutes, 48 seconds into the second period when he made a dash for the puck near the end boards with two Wayzata players in hot pursuit, said Chris McGowan, the Red Knights' JV coach.

McGowan said two players rammed Jablonski from behind, smashing him into the boards, and he collapsed motionless to the ice.

Jack is in critical condition with two fractured bones in his lower neck. He's unable to move his legs and has only slight movement in his hands and fingers, McGowan said.

Almost nightly in the NHL and in college you see dangerous hits like this. We don't need to see these avoidable, unnecessary and tragic hits in any level of hockey. This is why hockey needs to harshly penalize these kinds of hits. We also must teach the players coming through the ranks that if you see numbers you can not hit a person from behind.We can only hope that this 16 year old kid can make a full recovery and go on to lead a normal life.

Related articles

• Minn. prep hockey player paralyzed during game (mysanantonio.com)

No Supplemental Discipline for the Jets Bogosian

According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, there will be no supplemental discipline for the Winnipeg Jet's Zach Bogosian for his hit on Minnesota Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard. I guess that doesn't make Pierre-Marc Bouchard nose and face feel any better.

Per Michael Russo --- Per league source: No Supplemental Discipline for Bogosian. Player Safety Dept. feels that Bogosian did not run at Bouchard and that Bouchard turned just prior to the hit.

So this season we have seen similar hits result in no supplemental discipline; Letang on Burmistrov, Krejci on Stuart, and now Bogosian on Bouchard. My question is; aren't these the types of hits the league wants to get rid of?

Minnesota Wild resign goaltender Josh Harding

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Wild have resigned Josh Harding to a one year contract. Last season Harding didn't play because of a knee injury.

ST. PAUL, MN - The Minnesota Wild inked backup goaltender Josh Harding to a one-year deal on Friday.

No financial terms were revealed, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune quoted a $750,000 price tag.

Harding was forced to sit out all of the 2010-11 season after tearing his ACL and MCL during an exhibition contest, and the subsequent surgery.

The 27-year-old Saskatchewan native posted a 9-12-0 record with a 3.05 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in 2009-10 for Minnesota.

Wild prospect Mikael Granlund to stay in Finland this year

According to Star Tribune beat writer Michael Russo the Minnesota Wild's  top prospect Mikael Granlund will be staying in Finland this year and not coming to North America to play. This is going to be a disappointment to many Wild fans because the Wild are starved for offense and this kid is proving to be the real deal which is evident from his lacrosse style goal in the video above.

Michael Russo; Star Tribune ---Despite Mikko Koivu's attempt to persuade him to play for the Wild next season, highly touted 19-year-old Mikael Granlund will remain in Finland another year, one of his representatives said Thursday.

"The game plan is he's going to be entering the army and fulfilling his service and finishing high school, and we'd come over a year from now," agent Todd Diamond said.

"Mikael prefers when he comes over to Minnesota, hockey is the only thing he needs to focus on in his life. He wants to get all these so-called housekeeping things out of the way and, a year from now, get ready to hopefully crack the lineup."

Diamond said Granlund has received permission from the Finnish Army to attend the Wild's July 10-17 development camp. Diamond said the plan is to sign "this time next year."

"We believe Minnesota is a really good spot for him and the right environment for him to succeed in the future. It's the Finland of the United States in some ways," Diamond said.

Granlund, the Wild's first-round draft pick in 2010, helped lead HIFK to an SM-Liiga championship, then Finland to a world championship.

Remembering former Wild Enforcer Derek Boogaard.

Yesterday morning I woke up at my hunting shack to find a depressing email on my iPhone from the Whistler; telling me that the former Minnesota Wild enforcer the "Boogeyman" Derek Boogaard had died in his Minneapolis apartment. Cause of death unknown at this time, pending the results of a autopsy from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office... The Boogaard family is going to donate Derek's brain to science.  I don't want to speculate what caused Derek's death and I would actually urge others to not jump to conclusions like some have before we know the truth.


This was Derek Boogaard's last NHL goal which game against the Washington Capitals back in November of 2010. Incidentally that goal by the Boogeyman had broke a long goalless streak going back to January 7th of  2006, that goal broke a 234 game goalless streak.
 
Boogaard's last NHL game was on December 9th, 2010 against the Ottawa Senators where Boogaard sustained a concussion in a fight with Matt Carkner. Boogaard would never play again do to post concussion syndrome.

In closing I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the Boogaard family and may Derek Boogaard rest in peace. Personally, this is a sad day for me because I admire the enforcers in the NHL and I like what Boogaard brought to the ice for the five years that he played for the Minnesota Wild. Boogey might have been a tough guy but he played by the hockey code and was not a dirty player and he played the game straight up and you didn’t see him head hunting like some of the agitators around the NHL today.From everything that I have heard and read Derek was an awesome selfless person that gave back to the communities that he lived in.

Former Wild Enforcer Derek Boogaard Dead at 28

Sad:

Boogaard's body was found by family members in an apartment in the 400 block of First Street North, in Minneapolis' warehouse district, late Friday. Police said they would not release further details about the death Friday.

Boogard was just 28 years old.




I'm sure that Goon will have more to say. I wish that his family and friends can find peace somehow.