Christmas comes early for UND…

Christmas season is one of my favorite holidays of the year; it’s a great time to hang out with hockey before the second half of the season begins. It’s also gives a person time for some reflection on the past year. 

This holiday season, the UND hockey team got two very nice additions to their future line ups.

Personally,  I don’t usually follow a player until they gets to UND – this is based on some of the recent string of decommits that UND suffered from pretty high end recruits, the past two seasons – this week’s commitments are rather large gets for UND and I don’t think we will have to worry “too much” about them bolting to the CHL either.

I would also say that the commitments of St. Cloud Cathedral Junior Austin Poganski and Holy Family Catholic Sophomore Shane Gersich have UND fans pretty euphoric.  

Here are some of the recent Minnesota High School Division I recruits.

2012-13 Minnesota High School Division I Recruits

Name	High School	Year	Pos.	College	Verbal Commit
Grant Besse	Benilde-St. Margaret's	Senior	F	Wisconsin	Yes
Jake Bischoff	Grand Rapids	Senior	D	Minnesota	Yes
Travis Brown	Rogers	Junior	D	Michigan Tech	Yes
Shane Gersich	Holy Family Catholic	Soph.	F	North Dakota	Yes
Connor Hurley	Edina	Junior	F	Notre Dame	Yes
Jake Jackson	Tartan	Senior	F	Michigan Tech	Yes
Adam Johnson	Hibbing	Senior	F	Minnesota-Duluth	Yes
Teemu Kivihalme	Burnsville	Junior	D	Colorado College	Yes
Karson Kuhlman	Cloquet	Junior	F	Minnesota-Duluth	Yes
Dan Labosky	Benilde-St. Margaret's	Senior	F	Colorado College	Yes
Matt Nelson	Edina	Senior	D	Princeton	Yes
Neal Pionk	Hermantown	Junior	D	Minnesota-Duluth	Yes
Austin Poganski	St. Cloud Cathedral	Junior	F	North Dakota	Yes
Jack Ramsey	Minnetonka	Junior	F	Minnesota	Yes
Parker Reno	Edina	Senior	D	RPI	Yes
Jimmy Schuldt	Minnetonka	Senior	D	St. Cloud State	Yes
Luc Snuggerud	Eden Prairie	Junior	D	Nebraska-Omaha	Yes
Steven Spinner	Eden Prairie	Junior	F	Nebraska-Omaha	Yes
Tommy Vannelli	Minnetonka	Senior	D	Minnesota	Yes
Hunter Warner	Eden Prairie	Junior	D	Minnesota State	Yes

Why not Corban Knight for the Hobey Baker?

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don’t think it’s too early to start this post – half of the college hockey season is over already – soon the second half of the season will be upon us. It won’t be long until the hockey pundits will be talking about the end of the season awards that go along with the culmination of the NCAA hockey season.

That means that the Hobey Baker Memorial fan voting will be upon us very soon.

While I have no say in the process, I do believe that UND senior forward Corban Knight should be a legitimate candidate for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and I believe that it will be very hard for the voters to overlook him.

Breaking it down further, Knight is a complete player, both on an off of the ice, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be one of the Hobey Hat Trick (finalists) when it’s all said and done.

Through 16 games this season, Knight is leading the Green and White in scoring and has amassed an impressive (8g-15s—23pts). Knight is ranked eighth nationally in the NCAA for points per game 1.35. Knight is also tied for first over-all with Drew LeBlanc of Saint Cloud State in the WCHA for points in conference games.

Knight is currently on a 13 game scoring streaking racking up (6g-15a-21pts).

In the locker room, on or off the ice, Knight has the respect of his teammates and is very well liked. Recently, this is what fellow teammate Carter Rowney had to say about his fellow assistant caption.

“He’s a good guy,” Rowney said.  “He lives in the same building as me and everything. Great team player, everyone gets along with him – easy to get along with. Always positive, no matter what’s going on. He’s never down on himself, never down on anyone else, just a positive guy.”

When UND head coach Dave Hakstol was asked about Corban Knight, the  head coach was very complimentary.

“He’s a mature young man in every way,” Haksol said. “That’s one of the benefits of being a junior and a senior and taking the extra time to develop at this level before you step to the pro level; is being able to have that year where physically you’re maybe a little bit ahead of the opponents that you’re playing against. Certainly, mentally he’s as toughest there is. Very quiet in the way he goes about it – but mentally as tough as anybody.”

The head coach went on to say, “Corban is just a complete hockey player. “He’s good in all three zones. There’s a lot of element to his game that bring a lot of value to a team. I think one that he gets a lot of credit for is his ability in the faceoff dot. But there are a lot of areas of his game that are quietly similar to what he does in the faceoff dot. He’s a very solid, reliable two way player that consistently puts out real good solid offensive numbers – we’re seeing that again this year. He’s flown under the radar with it – he’s got a nice point scoring streak going. More importantly, I think his play is probably indicative of our team’s play. He’s very consistent player.”

Knight also does many good things off the ice as well. Recently, this is what the head coach Dave Hakstol had to say about his senior forward’s off ice activities.

“What you see is what you get,” Hakstol said. “He’s a great young man, always got a positive perspective. He always pays attention to how he treats people around him. He’s very cognizant of that. He’s always being a leader – not just in our locker room but in the community. He does an awful lot of things in the community that go unnoticed. He doesn’t do it with any fanfare – but he’s always willing to help out.”

Here’s the Hobey Baker Memorial Award Criteria.

• Candidates must exhibit strength of character both on and off the ice.
• Candidates must contribute to the integrity of the team and display outstanding skills in all phases of the game.
• Consideration should be given to scholastic achievement and sportsmanship.
• Candidates must comply with all NCAA rules: be full time students in an accredited NCAA college or university; and complete 50% or more of the season.

I do believe that Corban Knight would meet all of these criteria, to be eligible for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

Related articles

• UND forward Corban Knight's attitude; infectious on and off the ice (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND skates past DU 6-3 (thehockeywriters.com)
• Notes from the Wednesday's UND Men's Hockey press conference (thehockeywriters.com)

2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship - USA Preview

Interesting video, some good information here. The USA WJC team should be better than last year's team that finished a disappointing 7th place.

Video: KHL player attempts check, ends up in bench

Another day and another day of no NHL Hockey... Check out this swing and a miss, Atlant's Artyom Dorofeyev attempts to check Mats Zuccarello of Magnitogorsk Metallurg and ends up in the players bench area.

What team USA play today...

Watch Team USA in a 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship pre-tournament game vs Sweden on #NHLNetworkUS tomorrow at 12:30ET! #2013WJC
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) December 19, 2012

You can watch team USA's WJC on the NHL Network today at 11:30 A.M. CT against Sweden, however, Rocco Grimaldi will not be playing in today's game. According to Chris Peters, Rocco is a lock to make the team.

Scratch that. 11 forwards 7 defense. Grimaldi, Gaudreau, Miller, Trouba, Jones are the scratches. All locks for Team USA. #2013WJC
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 20, 2012

Here's Team USA's lineup for today's game at 11:30am (on NHL Network) vs Sweden #MyBumIsOnTheSwedish... fb.me/1xHMDZFox
— Robb Dahlen (@ClutterPuck) December 20, 2012

Will UND fans cheer Holy Cross?

This past weekend, I was listening to the UND Hockey on the radio and between periods, the voice of UND Hockey, Tim Hennessy was interviewing hockey guru Jess Myers of ESPN 1500 and Jess made mention of the Holy Cross series that's coming up in January at the Ralph and joked whether UND fans would still cheer Holy Cross when they’re introduced.

So do you think that UND fans will cheer Holy Cross? Like J.B. suggested in the comments, the fans may cheer before the first game but Holy Cross will become enemy number one, once the first puck is dropped.

During the 2006 NCAA Regionals,  Holy Cross was the “giant killer”... some have likened the Crusaders to Basketball’s version of the Cinderella -- a surprise team that was supposed to have no chance of winning but somehow Cinderella finds it in their fiber to knock off that unbeatable highly ranked sending fans into a pandemonium.

This is not 2006 anymore.

The Crusaders definitely made NCAA Division I College Hockey history for their ginormous victory over the Gophers, since that day Holy Cross, has been beloved by a lot of  UND hockey fans; simply because they knocked off one of UND's most hated rivals the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Also, to this day, you still see Holy Cross shirts and jerseys in the Ralph on any given weekend. I must say that I never bought one of those shirts, but I did watch Holy Cross football when I lived in Massachusetts during the early 1990's.

This season, I don’t think UND will overlook Holy Cross and I expect UND to play hard against them. UND has an all-time record of 2-0-0 against the Crusaders, beating them during the 2004 and 2006 NCAA tourney.

Related articles

• More NCHC Hate (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• WCHA Power Rankings: 12/16/12 (insidehockey.com)
• Former Gophers Andy Brink's thought's on college hockey and the WCHA (thehockeywriters.com)

Matt Frattin Ties it With 9.5 Seconds Left

Former Fighting Sioux forward Matt Frattin scores this goal for the Toronto Marlies against the Rochester Americans with under 10 seconds to go to tie the game. The Marlies would go on to be the Rochester Americans 4-3 in a shootout. Frattin would also score a goal in the shootout for the Marlies.

Frattin missed 12 games to start the season recovering from knee surgery and has come back with a vengeance;  Frattin has 12 points in 12 games (8g-a--12pts)

P.K. Subban Guarantees we will have a season

Canadian’s defenseman P.K. Subban guarantees that we will have a season.

“We will, we will,” Subban said. “Guarantee we will. I think so. I think so. I find it hard to believe we lose the season on contracting rights and CBA length… “

I sure hope that P.K. Subban is right.

NHL CBA negotiations now a game of chicken?

National Hockey League Players' Association (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have sometime's wondered if this is what's really going to happen. I was also wondering if the NHLPA will realize they can no longer get anymore out of the owners and then sign the best agreement, they can get.

It would appear that the owners aren't going to give them much. Me personally, I would advise the players to sign the deal that's on the table soon, if there is no movement by the owners so they can save the season.

Bruce Garrioch,OTTAWA SUN --- The NHL and NHL Players' Association have turned to a dangerous game of chicken with the season on the line.

Who blinks first?

NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr did reach out to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly for a short telephone conversation Tuesday, but no talks are scheduled even though both told QMI Agency Saturday they're prepared to bargain.

Daly said in an email to QMI Agency Tuesday that NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr is trying to bide his time to see if he can get his best deal for the players when the loss of the whole regular season is truly on the line.

But Daly also admitted a meeting wouldn't solve much because the NHL isn't going to go any further than the offer tabled two weeks ago in New York as the massive losses continue to mount for both sides.

"It disappoints me and saddens me because it's just more days lost," wrote Daly. "But, I'm not sure what meeting does from our side. There is nothing left to give and its clear Don is aiming toward a 'deadline' showdown."

This NHL Lockout has been a gong show, there is no reason this should have come to this. I like most are now wondering, when is the 2012-13 season is going to begin. Is there going to be an NHL season, if not, will there be an NHL season next year? We're running out of time for a season this year.

Not 100 percent, but it's likely NHL will cancel more games before end of the week
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) December 18, 2012

During the regular season, I watch 4-6 NHL hockey games every week. I follow the Boston Bruins and the Minnesota Wild and watch whoever is playing when neither team is on TV. This fall, much like the 2004-05 season this fall has been empty. My life has a void again, like the 2004-05 season. I find myself watching movies and bad sitcoms to fill the void. The people that are casual fans might not come back when the lockout is over.

A recent study of 1,000 Canadians found that the found the NHL lockout is so bad for the league's image that it's comparable to BP's Deep Water Horizon's destructive oil spill. Yeah! That's not good. So you have to wonder if this game of chicken the two sides are playing is doing more damage than good.

All that I want for Christmas is a meaningful NHL season.

RT @craigcustance: Hard to argue this from Brisson: "Canceling the season -- there's no words to describe how devastating that would be."
— Steve Zipay (@stevezipay) December 19, 2012

Corban Knight Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week

MADISON, Wis. – University of North Dakota forward Corban Knight, who led all conference players with six scoring points as his team fashioned a two-game road sweep over league rival Michigan Tech last weekend, is the Red Baron® WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for Dec. 18.

         

 A 6-2, 200-pound senior center from High River, Alberta, Knight had three goals and three assists for six points, factored in on both game-winning goals, put seven shots on goal and earned a +5 plus/minus rating as UND improved to 10-5-3 overall and moved into a second place tie in the WCHA. In last Friday’s (Dec. 14) 6-1 victory over the Huskies, Knight scored twice on two shots, including the game-winning goal, and added two assists for the first four-point game of his collegiate career. He also went 8-of-13 (61.9%) in the face-off circle. In Saturday’s (Dec. 15) 4-1 win, he scored his third goal of the weekend, assisted on teammate Danny Kristo’s game-winner, blocked three shots, and went 12-of-18 (60%) on face-offs.

         

 Knight tops North Dakota and is third in scoring among WCHA players this season with 23 points (8g, 15a). He is in the midst of a career-long 13-game point-scoring streak with 6-15=21 and a career-long five-game goal-scoring streak. It is UND’s longest point streak since Danny Kristo’s 13-gamer in 2009-10.

Also nominated: Jeff Jubinville, F, BSU; Tony Cameranesi, F, UMD; Matt White, F, UNO; Drew LeBlanc, F, SCSU.

WCHA Web Media Poll: Week 10

Each week, I participate in a WCHA Web Media Poll that is put on by the Tech Hockey Guide with 11 other people that represent both the print media as well as the hockey blogosphere.

This will be the final WCHA Web Media Poll till 2013. This week, there is a new number one team. The Green and White from North Dakota are ranked number one with their impressive 4-0-1 run during the month of December. Minnesota drops one spot to second over-all.

St. Cloud State jumped two spots from fifth to second.  The Denver Pioneers mired in a horrid 0-5-3 streak have fallen from third to sixth. According to Tim Braun from the Tech Hockey guide, the next WCHA poll will be out on January 1, 2013. 

Here are the results of the Tech Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll for Week 10:

	Team	Pts	Previous	Record	High	Low
1)	North Dakota (8)	140	2	10-5-3	1	2
2)	Minnesota (4)	130	1	11-3-3	1	4
3)	St. Cloud State	125	5	11-7-0	2	3
4)	Nebraska Omaha	102	4	11-6-1	3	6
5)	Minnesota State	96	6	10-6-2	4	6
6)	Denver	90	3	9-6-3	4	7
7)	Colorado College	67	7	8-10-2	6	9
8)	Minnesota Duluth	62	8	7-8-3	7	9
9)	Wisconsin	45	10	4-7-5	7	11
10)	Bemidji State	40	11	5-8-3	8	11
11)	Michigan Tech	26	9	4-10-3	9	12
12)	Alaska Anchorage	13	12	3-9-4	11	12

Representing Name Publication Twitter

 

Alaska-Anchorage, Taylor Hall College Hockey News @thall907
Bemidji State, Troy Mills The Beaver Pond
Colorado College, Joe Paisley, Paisley Hockey @Paisleyhockey
Denver, Mike Chambers, Denver Post @MChambersDP
Michigan Tech, Tim Braun, Tech Hockey Guide @TBraunTHG
Minnesota, Dan Myers, Minnesota Hockey Magazine @1DanMyers
Minnesota Duluth, Bruce Ciskie, The Ciskie Blog @BruceCiskie
Minnesota State, Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey @ChrisDilks
Nebraska-Omaha, Matt Semisch, Radio Free Omaha @matthewsemisch
North Dakota, Eric Burton The Hockey Writers Combine and Goon’s World @goon48
St. Cloud State, Jeremy Larson, Husky Hockey Time @jclarson02
Wisconsin, Andy Johnson, Bucky’s 5th Quarter @andyjohnsonB5Q

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers – Combine

NHL.com to offer live WJC coverage

The wonderful time of the year, the WJC is one of the best hockey tourney's on hockey. As the No Hockey League owners continue their squabble with the NHLPA; at least there is going to be hockey on the NHL Network this winter.

It's also nice to see that there will  be rebroadcasts of the games in the evening at reasonable times so we can see the games an not have to get up at the oh dark thirty in the morning to watch the games.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

December 17, 2012

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	Boston College	(44)	11- 2-1	993	1
2	New Hampshire	( 4)	11- 2-2	938	2
3	Notre Dame	( 2)	14- 4-0	911	3
4	Minnesota		11- 3-3	816	4
5	Miami		11- 3-4	768	5
6	Boston University		10- 5-0	737	6
7	North Dakota		10- 5-3	675	8
8	Western Michigan		11- 4-1	648	7
9	Quinnipiac		12- 3-2	603	9
10	Dartmouth		7- 2-2	525	10
11	Cornell		6- 3-2	441	12
12	Nebraska-Omaha		11- 6-1	395	13
13	Union		8- 3-4	391	14
14	Denver		9- 6-3	343	11
15	Yale		7- 3-2	321	15
16	St. Cloud State		11- 7-0	296	17
17	Niagara		10- 2-4	248	16
18	Minnesota State		10- 6-2	204	20
19	Ferris State		7- 7-3	50	19
20	Colgate		9- 7-2	47	NR
20	Harvard		4- 4-1	47	18
Others receiving votes: Providence 43, Holy Cross 16, Robert Morris 15, Ohio State 14, Colorado College 7, Lake Superior 4, Massachusetts-Lowell 2, Michigan 2.

Read more:

Edit: How some of us voted. (6/12)

I like transparency and I have no problem showing how I voted. Every week 12 of us contribute to the Tech Hockey Guide WCHA Web Media Poll. Here's how six of us voted.

Andy Johnson, Bucky’s Fifth Quarter

1. UMTC

2. UND

3. SCSU

4. UNO

5 Mankato

6. Denver

7. CC

8. UW

9. UMD

10. Bemidji

11. Michigan Tech

12. Anchorage

Troy Mills of the Beaver Pond

1. UND

2. Minnesota

3. St. Cloud

4. Nebraska-Omaha

5. Mankato

6. Colorado College

7. Denver

8. Minnesota Duluth

9. Bemidji State

10. Wisconsin

11. Michigan Tech

12. Alaska Anchorage

Chris Dilks of Western College Hockey

1. Minnesota

2. North Dakota

3. Saint Cloud State

4. Nebraska Omaha

5. Minnesota State

6. Denver

7. Minnesota Duluth

8. Colorado College

9. Bemidji State

10. Wisconsin

11. Michigan Tech

12. Alaska Anchorage

Eric Burton Goon’s World

1. North Dakota

2. Minnesota Gophers

3. Saint Cloud State

4. Nebraska Omaha

5. Minnesota State

6. Denver

7. Colorado College

8. Minnesota Duluth

9. Bemidji State

10. Wisconsin

11. Michigan Tech

12. Alaska Anchorage

Tim Braun of the Tech Hockey Guide

1. North Dakota

2. Saint Cloud

3. Minnesota

4. Nebraska-Omaha

5. Minnesota State

6. Denver

7. Colorado College

8.  Minnesota Duluth

9. Michigan Tech

10. Bemidji State

11. Wisconsin

12. Alaska Anchorage

Matthew Semisch from Radio Free Omaha

1. North Dakota

2. Saint Cloud

3. Nebraska Omaha

4. Minnesota

5. Minnesota State

6. Denver

7. Colorado College

8. Minnesota Duluth

9. Wisconsin

10. Bemidji State

11. Michigan Tech

12. Alaska Anchorage