Where do we go from here? RW77 and the new Job Opening

Well, consider me one of shock... though it isn't shock because Eades is gone. It's more of shock that Eades isn't gone due to a new position...either head coach at the DI level or USHL level.

I think Eades is one of the more up and coming coaches at the collegiate level among the cadre of attractive candidates that do not have DI head coaching experience.

  I haven't a doubt that Eades' unemployment will be measured in weeks rather than in months. Best of luck, Cary. Here's to success wherever you end up (unless it is against UND).

The NEW UND coach:

UND has basically two directions: First would be to promote Dane Jackson to Associate Head Coach and hire an Assistant Head Coach. The other would be to hire an Associate Head Coach.

First, hiring a new Assistant Coach:

This would be the least expensive option as they wouldn't necessarily have to shell out as much money as they'd have to if they went for an Associate Head Coach. Not to mention that it opens the most options to UND. Although UND doesn't have to follow "tradition" of hiring former UND or at least WCHA coaches or players, a new assistant can be ANYONE... including poaching a coach from the ranks of Major Juniors if they really wanted. They can also go in the direction of giving a guy his first shot at the DI level...having no real coaching experience outside of the volunteer variety... for example: Karl Goehring.

Possible Candidates can be from a large variety of sources from juniors up to the pro ranks. With how open this possibility is, I'm not sure anyone other than Karl who jumps out at me. Perhaps Tony Hrkac would be willing to take a shot at this position.

Option Two: Hire a new Associate

This is the more costly option but it holds a lot of intriguing names. People who have made their names known in the past could become candidates. Some names that come to mind include: Jason Herter, John Marks, Steve Johnson, even Chad Johnson could come up. There could be non-UND candidates, such as Shattuck's Tom Ward (he was a former Minnesota Assistant Coach). Hey, I hear John Hill and Troy Jutting are available. But then again, hiring John Hill would kill our program. Heh, we should make a run at one of the Sutters. They'd know how to undo the major junior influence. After all, no one knows more about Major Junior recruiting away NCAA players better than the Anti-NCAA Sutter family. I'd also love to see James Patrick be included in the list but he's doing well as an NHL Assistant and probably has a future at that level.

Like with the other option: They could go completely out of the blue. So my questions to the readership are: What direction do you think UND will take? Who do you think will be a candidate? Any you'd like to see on the list that I haven't mentioned?

Edit - State of shock - Eades out at UND

I would be willing to bet that most of us that are fans of Fighting Sioux hockey probably are in a state of shock right now. Personally, I don't know what to make of this, Carey Eades is the epitome of Fighting Sioux hockey.

Most of us know that coaches leave programs and move on, but I don't if any of us could predict this happening, at least not now, not in the middle of the off-season.

Edit: According to Brad Schlossman

Eades, who was part of the 1980 and 1982 national championship teams as a player and the 1987 title team as an assistant coach, said he was caught off guard by the decision. Eades was told about it prior to the American Hockey Coaches Association convention in Florida, which took place during the last week in April.

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Developing – Cary Eades out at UND

Official Press Release

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota head men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol announced today that associate head coach Cary Eades will not have his contract renewed as part of a restructuring of UND’s coaching staff for the 2012-13 season.

Eades has been a member of the Fighting Sioux coaching staff for each of Hasktol’s eight seasons behind the bench and was elevated from assistant coach to associate head coach prior to the 2006-07 season.

“Cary has provided tremendous leadership to our program and to the individuals within our program,” Hakstol said, “and I truly appreciate the loyalty and dedication he has demonstrated throughout his time at North Dakota. At this point in time, I felt a need to redefine and restructure the roles and duties within our coaching staff. There are no additional, underlying reasons for my decision, which was an extremely difficult one to make.”

During his eight years as a member of Hakstol’s staff, Eades helped lead the Sioux to six seasons of 25-plus victories, five NCAA Frozen Four appearances, four WCHA Final Five championships and two MacNaughton Cup titles as WCHA regular season champions. Eades coached UND’s defensemen and power play, and also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

“I am very appreciative of the past eight years at the University of North Dakota and am very proud of my contributions to the team’s success that we’ve enjoyed. Winning some form of a championship – WCHA league, WCHA playoff or NCAA regional – in each season is a testament to that,” Eades said. “I can also hold my head high knowing that our shelves are stocked with talent for next year’s team and beyond.

“I am a much better person and hockey coach because of this experience and I truly appreciate all of the current and former players, coaches, administration, alumni and, of course, our loyal, diehard Sioux fans for their part in my personal growth. It’s now time for me to look forward and pursue other career opportunities, and embrace the challenges that lie ahead in my life.”

Eades’ association with UND hockey extends well beyond his most recent stint as assistant and associate head coach. Eades previously was an assistant coach for the 1987 NCAA and WCHA champion Sioux while serving as a member of former UND head coach John “Gino” Gasparini's staff for seven seasons from 1984-91.

“I learn from the people I work with, and I’ve learned a lot from Cary,” Hakstol said. “He’s been an outstanding friend and coach to work with.”

Prior to embarking on a coaching career, Eades played hockey at UND for four seasons (1978-82), playing on two UND NCAA championship teams (1980 and 1982) and three WCHA championship teams (1979, 1980, 1982). He was UND's team captain his senior season (1981-82). Eades played in 144 games for the Sioux, scoring 85 goals and 79 assists for 164 points. His 85 career goals are tied for ninth in program history. UND compiled a 117-47-3 (.710) record during Eades four years of college.

Hakstol said a definitive timeline for naming a replacement has not yet been determined.

Miles Koules on the Pipeline show

Former UND recruit Miles Koules was on the Pipeline show with Guy Flaming and Dean Milard; Koules discussed his decision to join the Medicine Hat Tigers instead of playing the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux next year.

Miles Koules was asked about why he changed his mind and this is what he had to say.

"You know what, North Dakota was a great place, the facilities and everything were awesome," Koules said. "The main thing that I looked at was; A - the amount of games, I just think that the amount of games that you get to play in the WHL really helps turn you into a pro more than college."

"I think I play a bigger role on the Tigers next year than I would at North Dakota my freshman year, that was pretty much a deciding factor as well."

[Click to Listen]

Twisting the words to fit an agenda - the Nickname cost

Yesterday it was revealed that South Dakota State University said that it would honor it’s existing contracts but wouldn’t schedule any more games until the nickname issue at UND was settled. The SID of SDSU even went on KFGO and talked about this issue.

Nick Smith, Bismarck Tribune --- O’Keefe said keeping the nickname would have a major financial impact on UND’s athletic programs. He said it also would have an economic impact on both the university and the city of Grand Forks.

He said UND is unable to play against several universities due to the nickname. Teams that won’t play UND so far are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota-Morris.

O’Keefe said South Dakota State University won’t be playing UND’s football team following the teams’ next scheduled game. A cross country meet and a volleyball tournament at SDSU also have been pulled.

Justin Sell, the SDSU athletic director, told The Associated Press that the school doesn’t have a written nickname policy. He expressed surprise that the UND Foundation had brought up the issue on Tuesday. Sell said he’d spoken with UND officials a year ago about putting a hold on scheduling further games.

“To be honest with you, this kind of came out of the blue for us,” he said about the UND group publicizing the issue. “We’re just taking a wait-and-see approach until we get more information on where things sit. It’s as simple as that for us.”

Some bloggers have tried to twist the words and put out misinformation and have gone so far to say that respected UND Alumni are liars… Those are pretty big charges, but hey lets not let facts get in the way of a good argument. The words are right there in black and white and I underlined them. This is the same person that has been dead wrong or at least missing the mark through most of the nickname issue.

If you read the screen shot about and then read the paragraph that was pulled from the Bismarck Tribune article you will see that the message is pretty consistent, they are saying the same thing. I am not sure how this proves that anyone is not being forth coming. I also read where someone said that this is an old issue, it has been common knowledge that SDSU wasn’t going to play UND if they kept the Fighting Sioux nickname.



EDIT - Fargo federal judge tosses out Sioux lawsuit to preserve UND nickname

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athletic logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This news just broke this evening. Today the U.S. District court in Fargo threw the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe lawsuit against the NCAA. [Click to view the ruling]

GRAND FORKS - U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson has granted the NCAA’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, a major setback to American Indians trying to preserve the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname.

Erickson filed his order late Tuesday in Fargo, where lawyers for the two sides had presented oral arguments on April 19.

The Spirit Lake Sioux, through its Committee for Understanding and Respect, had asked the court to overturn the NCAA’s 2005 policy discouraging the use of American Indian names and imagery by member schools.

They also argued that they and the Standing Rock Sioux were “indispensable parties” to the 2007 agreement settling a lawsuit brought by UND against the athletics association, and that they have been wrongly excluded from negotiations concerning that settlement.

In his 23-page opinion, Erickson held that none of the several counts brought by the committee state a sufficient legal claim under federal law.

“Many of the counts are entirely without merit, and the ones that could potentially have been meritorious could only have properly been brought by UND,” Erickson wrote.

You can read it for yourself right here.

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College Hockey going to the 3/4 shields?

Division I college hockey is considering getting rid of the full cages and going to the three quarter shields. According to Mike McMahon about 95 percerent of the division I college hockey coaches are in favor of this move.

Losing the face mask/bird cage seems like a no-brainier to me because it would clean up the game of college hockey and cut down on unnecessary injuries. There is way to much stick work in the game of college hockey a some of it can be blame on "the mask."

Larry Mahoney, BDN Staff --- The rules committee will make a decision on those issues at their meeting in Indianapolis on June 6-8.

However, Whitehead pointed out that their recommendation on the three-quarter shield will have to be approved by the NCAA’s Committee of Competitive Safeguards.

The others won’t have to be approved by any other committees.

Whitehead likes the idea of going to the three-quarter shield for a number of reasons.

First, he said the players will have better peripheral vision, which could reduce the number of concussions.

“They won’t be losing the puck in their skates and looking down for it as much,” said Whitehead, noting that players are more vulnerable when they’re searching for the puck.

He also said players won’t be playing with as much reckless abandon and getting their sticks up.

Personally I think it’s a great idea to get rid of the bird cages and move into the 21^st century, I think that the bird cage or full shield make players fell like they are invincible and they also lead to players to not be responsible with their sticks because they tend to worry less about their opponents.

Mick Hatten beat writer of the SCSU Huskies wrote an article on this subject this past week and this is what SCSU head hockey coach Bob Motzko had to say on the subject, it would appear that there is a consensus among college hockey coaches and players that they want to get rid of the awkward full cages. Actually, from what I have read in the past it's that's been the consensus for a while now.

“I think everyone in college hockey is unanimous in favor of it,” St. Cloud State men’s head coach Bob Motzko said. “It’s going to be overwhelming to go in that direction. They did a survey of the players this year and the players want to do it. 

I have never understood why it's okay for the USHL and the NAHL to be able to wear the full cage while the NCAA players have to play down with full cage/face mask.  This rule makes no sense to me what-so-ever.

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Jack Rabbits won't play the Sioux...

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athletic logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This news came out today and SDSU won't play UND until UND "is in good standing" with the NCAA and no longer on sanctions.

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The leader of University of North Dakota's alumni says South Dakota State has joined a growing number of schools that won't schedule UND in athletics until the controversy over its Fighting Sioux nickname is resolved.

UND Alumni Association and Foundation CEO Tim O'Keefe was in Fargo on Tuesday morning to kick off a campaign to get rid of the nickname. O'Keefe says the issue is no longer about preference, but the price the school will pay if it keeps the moniker.

O'Keefe says SDSU won't schedule any more athletic contests with UND until the Grand Forks school is "in good standing." SDSU officials were not immediately available for comment.

This story has evolved even more since it first emerged this after noon. The SDSU SID was on with Mike McFeely on KFGO and said that SDSU will honor "existing contracts" with UND but will no longer schedule UND until they are in good standing, meaning that they are no longer on NCAA sanctions. You can listen to the Mike McFeely show right here. [Click to listen]

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2012 United States Men’s National Team Roster

Here is the roster for the 2012 United States Men’s National Team Roster – IIHF Men’s World Championship [Click to view] You can see that there is a good representation of U.S. College Hockey players on the US roster.

The World Championships are on NBC Sports Network and they are going to televise 13 games from the World Championship from May 4-20, in Helsinki, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden. All of the American games will be seen on NBCSN as well.

 GOALTENDERS (3)

31 Richard Bachman 5-10 (178) 175 (79) 7/25/87 L Salt Lake City, Utah Dallas Stars (NHL)Colorado College 36 John Curry 5-11 (180)185 (84)6/5/85 L Shorewood, Minn. Hamburg Freezers (DEL)Boston University
35 Jimmy Howard 6-0 (183) 218 (98) 3/26/84 L Ogdensburg, N.Y. Detroit Red Wings (NHL) University of Maine

DEFENSEMEN (6)

34 Chris Butler 6-1 (185) 196 (89) 10/27/86 L St. Louis, Mo. Calgary Flames (NHL) University of Denver
 27 Justin Faulk 6-0 (183)205 (93) 3/20/92 R South St. Paul, Minn. Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)University of Minnesota-Duluth
4 Cam Fowler 6-1 (185) 196 (89) 12/5/91 L Farmington Hills, Mich. Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
7 Alex Goligoski 5-11 (180)181 (82) 7/30/85 L Grand Rapids, Minn. Dallas Stars (NHL)University of Minnesota
3 Jack Johnson 6-1 (185)231 (105)1/13/87 L Ann Arbor, Mich. Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL)University of Michigan
2 Jeff Petry 6-3 (191) 196 (89) 12/9/87 R Ann Arbor, Mich. Edmonton Oilers (NHL) Michigan State University

FORWARDS (12)

18 Justin Abdelkader 6-1 (185) 219 (98) 2/25/87 L Muskegon, Mich. Detroit Red Wings (NHL) Michigan State University
13 Cam Atkinson 5-7 (170)172 (78) 6/5/89 R Riverside, Conn. Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) Boston College
23 J.T. Brown 5-10 (178) 170 (77) 7/2/90 R Burnsville, Minn. Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) University of Minnesota-Duluth
15 Joey Crabb 6-1 (185) 190 (86) 4/3/83 R Anchorage, Alaska Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) Colorado College 39 Patrick Dwyer 5-11 (180) 175 (79)6/22/83 R Spokane, Wash. Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)Western Michigan University
11 Ryan Lasch 5-9 (175) 176 (80) 1/22/87 R Lake Forest, Calif. Lahti Pelicans (SM-LIIGA)St. Cloud State University
21 Kyle Okposo 6-0 (183) 205 (93) 4/16/88 R St. Paul, Minn. New York Islanders (NHL)University of Minnesota
67 Max Pacioretty 6-2 (188)196 (89)11/20/88 L New Canaan, Conn. Montreal Canadiens (NHL)University of Michigan
9 Bobby Ryan 6-2 (188) 209 (95)3/17/87 R Cherry Hill, N.J. Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
19 Jim Slater 6-0 (183) 200 (91) 12/9/82 L Lapeer, Mich. Winnipeg Jets (NHL) Michigan State University
26 Paul Stastny 6-0 (183)205 (93) 12/27/85 L St. Louis, Mo. Colorado Avalanche (NHL) University of Denver 44 Nate Thompson 6-0 (183) 210 (95) 10/5/84 L Anchorage, Alaska Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)

Oshie lights up Penner

We could run through a plethora of cliches but there is an old saying, get off the track if you don't want to get run over by the train. Former Fighting Sioux forward T.J. Oshie absolutely runs over L.A. Kings forward Dustin Penner with a legal green light hit. There is no reason for the Kings forward Mike Richards to jump Oshie because this is is a text book clean hit, there is nothing dirty about this hit.

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Ovechkin's game winning goal.

This was a nice goal to win the game for the Washington Capitals - what they don't say is that the game winning goal by Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was the result of a "very" weak call against  Rangers forward Brad Richards at the 12:29 mark of the third period, that would lead to the Capitals game winning goal four seconds later at the 12:33 mark of the third period.

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UND alumni groups plan campaign for nickname retirement

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux athletic logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is the latest news in the UND Fighting Sioux Nickname debate that broke this after noon.

Chuck Haga, Grand Forks Herald ---- Leaders of the UND Alumni Association and Foundation have scheduled news conferences in Grand Forks and other North Dakota cities Tuesday to launch a campaign in support of Measure 4 on the June 12 primary ballot.

As it will appear on the ballot, approving the measure would reaffirm the Legislature’s repeal of a law requiring UND to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname, opening the way once again for the university to retire the name and associated Indian-head logo.

Tim O’Keefe, executive vice president of the UND Alumni Association, and Rick Burgum, chairman of the foundation, will join local UND alumni at the news conference in Grand Forks, Fargo, Bismarck and Minot.

O’Keefe, Burgum and other alumni leaders have spoken against efforts to retain the nickname, saying they fear serious consequences for UND’s athletics program and students athletes.

Immediately some will question Tim O’Keefe loyalty to Fighting Sioux Sports and to the nickname. There will be others that will say that O’Keefe was ordered by the UND administration to say this or call him and the others other alumni leaders in this campaign turn-coats or a toady.  They might want to think again, O’Keefe does have credibility, he was a letter winner with the UND Hockey team back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Lastly, I would love to see someone tell former Viking fullback/tight end Jim Kleinsasser a sell out or a toady.

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The question that begs to be asked?

 

That is a good question; what the hell is going on in Ann Arbor, Michigan? The US NTDP is becoming a great  breeding ground for high end CHL players. I don't think that was the intentions when the US NTDP was formed in 1996. Here are a couple of tweets from Brad Schlossman's twitter feed.

Miles Koules "won't" be going to UND

Brad Elloitt Schlossman reported on his media blog and as well in the Grand Forks Herald that Miles Koules has backed out of his commitment and now will not be going to UND. Koules will instead play for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. This is the third recruit from the NTDP team to de-committ and go to the CHL.

There seems to be something going on at the NTDP wonder if the UND coaches will continue to recruit kids from the USNDT after being spurned by another one this weekend, counting J.T. Miller, Stephan Matteau and now Miles Koules. 

Just a hunch I wouldn't count on Seth Jones going to UND. This was on his Twitter Page yesterday.

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