Men's National Team Orientation Camp Roster Set

The Minnesota Wild have landed two of their star players (Zach Parise and Ryan Suter) on the U.S. Men's National Team Orientation Camp roster, The orientation camp will take place from Aug. 26-27, at Kettler Capitals IcePlex in Arlington, Va. If you look at the roster you will see a good number of players on team USA played Division I College Hockey. 

Also, there are two former Fighting Sioux forwards on the U.S. Men's National Team Orientation Camp roster in Zach Parise and T.J. Oshie. 

GOALTENDERS

Name	Height	Weight	Date of Birth	Shoots	Hometown	Current Team
Craig Anderson	6-2 (188)	180 (82)	1981-05-21	L	Park Ridge, Ill.	Ottawa Senators (NHL)
John Gibson	6-3 (191)	209 (95)	1993-07-14	L	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Norfolk Admirals (AHL)
Jimmy Howard	6-0 (183)	218 (99)	1984-03-26	L	Syracuse, N.Y.	Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Ryan Miller	6-2 (188)	175 (79)	1980-07-17	L	East Lansing, Mich.	Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Jonathan Quick	6-1 (185)	218 (99)	1986-01-21	L	Milford, Conn.	Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Cory Schneider	6-2 (188)	195 (88)	1986-03-18	L	Marblehead, Mass.	New Jersey Devils (NHL)

DEFENSEMEN

Name	Height	Weight	Date of Birth	Shoots	Hometown	Current Team
Zach Bogosian	6-3 (191)	215 (98)	1990-07-15	R	Massena, N.Y.	Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Dustin Byfuglien	6-5 (198)	265 (120)	1985-03-27	R	Roseau, Minn.	Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
John Carlson	6-3 (191)	212 (96)	1990-01-10	R	Colonia, N.J.	Washington Capitals (NHL)
Dan DeKeyser	6-3 (191)	198 (90)	1990-03-07	L	Clay Township, Mich.	Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
Justin Faulk	6-0 (183)	215 (98)	1992-03-20	R	South St. Paul, Minn.	Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Cam Fowler	6-1 (185)	196 (89)	1991-03-05	L	Farmington Hills, Mich.	Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Jake Gardiner	6-2 (188)	184 (83)	1990-07-04	L	Minnetonka, Minn.	Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
Erik Johnson	6-4 (195)	232 (105)	1988-03-21	R	Bloomington, Minn.	Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Jack Johnson	6-1 (185)	231 (105)	1987-01-13	L	Ann Arbor, Mich.	Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL)
Seth Jones	6-4 (195)	206 (93)	1994-10-03	R	Plano, Texas	Nashville Predators (NHL)
Nick Leddy	6-0 (183)	191 (87)	1991-03-20	L	Eden Prairie, Minn.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Paul Martin	6-1 (185)	200 (91)	1981-03-05	L	Minneapolis, Minn.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Ryan McDonagh	6-1 (185)	213 (97)	1989-06-13	L	St. Paul, Minn.	New York Rangers (NHL)
Brooks Orpik	6-2 (188)	219 (99)	1980-09-26	L	San Francisco, Calif.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Kevin Shattenkirk	5-11 (180)	207 (94)	1989-01-29	R	Greenwich, Conn.	St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Ryan Suter	6-1 (185)	198 (90)	1985-01-21	L	Madison, Wis.	Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Jacob Trouba	6-1 (185)	196 (89)	1994-02-26	R	Rochester, Mich.	Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Keith Yandle	6-1 (185)	190 (86)	1986-09-09	L	Boston, Mass.	Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)

FORWARDS

Name	Height	Weight	Date of Birth	Shoots	Hometown	Current Team
Justin Abdelkader	6-1 (185)	219 (99)	1987-02-25	L	Muskegon, Mich.	Detroit Red Wings (NHL)
David Backes	6-3 (191)	221 (100)	1984-05-01	R	Minneapolis, Minn.	St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Beau Bennett	6-2 (188)	207 (94)	1991-11-27	R	Gardena, Calif.	Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Nick Bjugstad	6-6 (198)	215 (98)	1992-07-17	R	Minneapolis, Minn.	Florida Panthers (NHL)
Dustin Brown	6-0 (183)	212 (96)	1984-11-04	L	Ithaca, N.Y.	Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Ryan Callahan	5-11 (180)	180 (82)	1985-03-21	R	Rochester, N.Y.	New York Rangers (NHL)
Alex Galchenyuk	6-1 (185)	196 (89)	1994-02-12	L	Milwaukee, Wis.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Patrick Kane	5-11 (180)	181 (82)	1988-11-19	L	Buffalo, N.Y.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Ryan Kesler	6-2 (188)	202 (92)	1984-08-31	R	Livonia, Mich.	Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Phil Kessel	6-0 (183)	202 (92)	1987-10-02	R	Madison, Wis.	Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
Trevor Lewis	6-1 (185)	199 (90)	1987-01-08	R	Salt Lake City, Utah	Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Kyle Okposo	6-0 (183)	212 (96)	1988-03-16	R	St. Paul, Minn.	New York Islanders (NHL)
T.J. Oshie	5-11 (180)	189 (86)	1986-12-23	R	Warroad, Minn.	St. Louis Blues (NHL)
Max Pacioretty	6-2 (188)	219 (99)	1988-11-20	L	New Canaan, Conn.	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
Kyle Palmieri	5-11 (180)	197 (90)	1991-02-01	R	Smithtown, N.Y.	Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Zach Parise	5-11 (180)	190 (86)	1984-07-28	L	Minneapolis, Minn.	Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Joe Pavelski	5-11 (180)	190 (86)	1984-07-11	R	Plover, Wis.	San Jose Sharks (NHL)
Bobby Ryan	6-2 (188)	200 (91)	1987-03-17	R	Cherry Hills, N.J.	Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Brandon Saad	6-1 (185)	202 (92)	1992-10-27	L	Gibsonia, Pa.	Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Craig Smith	6-1 (185)	202 (92)	1989-09-05	R	Madison, Wis.	Nashville Predators (NHL)
Paul Stastny	6-0 (183)	205 (93)	1985-12-27	L	St. Louis, Mo.	Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
Derek Stepan	6-0 (183)	196 (90)	1990-06-18	R	Hastings, Minn.	New York Rangers (NHL)
James van Riemsdyk	6-3 (191)	200 (91)	1989-05-04	L	Middletown, N.J.	Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL)
Blake Wheeler	6-5 (198)	205 (93)	1986-08-31	R	Robbinsdale, Minn.	Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

Ruh Roh! Small school complaining

I was reading this article in USCHO and it's interesting, but not all is equal. The Atlantic Hockey Association while they have made big-time improvements, they still aren't on the same level as the other major conferences. That's the brutal reality. That doesn't mean that they're not going to win games in the NCAA tourney, because they have in a few isolated cases.

Also, these schools in most cases, just  don't have the facilities a lot of the other big schools have, I checked on line and not one of the current schools in the AHA has an arena that seats over 3000 fans.  So, good luck getting the bigger schools to visit the R.I.T., Sacred Hearts and or the Bentley's of the AHA.

Chris Lerch, USCHO.COM -- Atlantic Hockey posted the highest number of non-conference wins (25) and tied for the best non-conference winning percentage (.365) in the league’s history. That was despite AHA teams playing the vast majority of their non-conference games on the road.

And that, according to Wilson, is where change has to happen.

Atlantic Hockey teams hosted 23 non-conference home games (16 with conference-affiliated teams; seven against either Alabama-Huntsville or Penn State) plus three more neutral-ice games where AHA squads were the designated home team (RIT’s game with Penn State at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena and Robert Morris’ contests with Penn State and Ohio State at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center).

In contrast, the league’s 12 teams played 52 pure road games and another five on neutral ice (not including NCAA tournament games). That’s more than a two-to-one disparity.

Mercyhurst played all seven of its non-conference games on the road. Niagara played six of its seven non-conference contests away from Dwyer Arena, where the Purple Eagles were 15-0-2 last season.

In comparison, teams that will form the National Collegiate Hockey Conference played 35 non-conference home games to just 15 road games and 10 neutral-site games. Denver did not play a road non-conference game; no NCHC school played more than two.

Big Ten teams (not including Penn State) played 20 non-conference home games, eight road games and nine neutral-site games out of league. Wisconsin and Michigan did not play any non-conference road games.

Sure, it's true that AHA allows the NCAA tourney to have 16 teams in the NCAA tourney, but now it appears that the smaller schools in college hockey want to start dictating the terms to the bigger schools of college hockey. Yeah, okay! We'll see how that works for them.

I have a feeling this isn't going to play well for these smaller schools and I really don't see them setting the terms. I mean, what's next? The smaller schools start asking that we move the start of the season back a couple of weeks? Or that we start limiting that number of scholarships that teams can give out to level the playing field. The AHA isn't fully funding their hockey teams to the maximum scholarship levels that the other schools are.

Of course that's going to change, a little bit. It was announced back in May, that the Atlantic Hockey beginning with the 2014-15 season will add one additional scholarship bringing the total allowed to 13 scholarships. The following season, Atlantic Hockey will again add one more scholarship for the 2015-16 season, bringing the total number of scholarships to 14.

UND travels on a couple of non-conference series every season. Last year, UND went to the Alaska Goal Rush Tourney in Fairbanks Alaska and played at Notre Dame. So, actually, Mr. Lerch’s article isn’t exactly correct, one NCHC team played three non-conference games away from home. Alaska Fairbanks was the host for the Goal Alaska Rush Tourney.

Break down of UND travel in recent years.

UND traveled to Kendall Classic in Anchorage, Alaska and to Maine for the 2010-11 season.
UND traveled to Cornell during the 2009-10 season.
UND traveled to Boston for the Ice Breaker during the 2008-09 season to play BU and UMass and also played a two game set at Harvard as well. So, that team made two trips to Boston.

Related articles

• Is this the list of NCHC refs? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Josh Fenton Named Commissioner Of NCHC (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• CCHA & Atlantic Hockey Meet To Discuss Alignment Possibilities (stupidhockey.typepad.com)
• NCAA Hockey: Current NCHC Television Deal is Unacceptable (getrealhockey.com)
• NCHC to launch new web page on August 1, 2013 (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Nchc Announces Inaugural Television Schedule (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Tiger Woods goes off

Oh how the mighty have fallen. That's not even that bad of a golf shot.

Hockey: Pain is Temporary

Amen..... pic.twitter.com/7n92hYQQ42
— HockeyPerks® (@HockeyPerks) July 22, 2013

This is so true!

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UND hockey to play UBC in January 2014

UND to play in British Columbia on Jan. 2-3; Canucks home on Jan. 1. Jets home on Dec. 31. Sounds like a good trip.
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) July 19, 2013

The University of North Dakota is scheduled to play two exhibition games against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on January 2-3, 2014 and of course some fans that aren't happy with the decision, but I think it's a great idea. In fact, the idea is a stroke of genius. Think about the exposure that this exhibition series will give the UND hockey team. This series could be a great recruiting event for the UND hockey team. It's also a great way to expose the Western Canadians to the NCHC. I know in the past, there has been some talk about letting the Canadian teams join the NCAA hockey and there is a team, Simon Fraser Clan of Burnaby, B.C. that already plays in Division II sports. I look at this as an opportunity.

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Mike Babcock is head coach of team Canada Olympic team

With Olympic deal done, Hockey Canada will now move into overdrive to put team together.Will make coaching staff official tomorrow.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) July 21, 2013

Mike Babcock is head coach, Hitchcock,Ruff,Julien will assist...and Ralph Kruger will also have a role with staff.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) July 21, 2013

A very good selection for team Canada, Mike Babcock is a very good head coach. Team Canada is in good hands for the Olympics.

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NHL schedule includes “6” Outdoor Games

Chew on this for a minute, there are six outdoor games this season. They’re listed below in chronological order, and they’re scheduled as follows. One game is actually in L.A.

2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic

* Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings - Michigan Stadium

Wednesday, Jan. 1, 12:30 p.m. ET -- NBC, CBC, RDS

Coors Light NHL Stadium Series

* Anaheim Ducks vs. Los Angeles Kings - Dodger Stadium

Saturday, Jan. 25, 9:30 p.m. ET -- NBC Sports Network, CBC

* New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils - Yankee Stadium

Sunday, Jan. 26, 12:30 p.m. ET -- NBC, CBC

* New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders - Yankee Stadium

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m. ET -- NBC Sports Network

* Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks - Soldier Field

Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m. ET

2014 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic

* Ottawa Senators vs. Vancouver Canucks – BC Place

Sunday, March 2, 4 p.m. ET -- CBC, RDS, NBC Sports Network

Johnny Toews with the Cup

Toews kissing The Cup pic.twitter.com/CfYHe89ZRe
— JRoads ™ (@JRoadsreal) July 19, 2013

s/t @JRoadsreal awesome picture. Too bad it wasn't in Grand Forks, ND. This is the second cup that Toews has won with the Chicago Blackhawks.

We have a deal, NHL to Sochi in 2014

Agreement is reached and is official for NHL player participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. http://t.co/o5B7dm3Ggm
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) July 19, 2013

Yay! Awesome news, the NHL players are going to play in the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Sochi , Russian. That means taht this year's NHL season will take two weeks off.

The NHL will break the 2013-14 schedule on Feb. 9 for the Olympics and return to play on Feb. 26.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) July 19, 2013

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Predicting who wins the Inaugural 2014 B1G Title: Good Question

@THNRyanKennedy How dare you suggest that anyone other than the Minnesota Gophers win the inaugural B1G 2014 title. #sarcasm.
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) July 19, 2013

That is a very good question. It does bring up an interesting conversation, who is the favorite to win the 2014 Big Ten Hockey Conference Title. I would have to say that Wisconsin, based on who they return, would be one of the favorites. I think that Minnesota lost way too much high-end talent to make much of a impact next season.

. @THNRyanKennedy says Wisconsin looks like a safe bet to win B1G title right now. I’ll take Minnesota as a safer bet at this point.
— Andrew Weiss (@WeissFC) July 19, 2013

Patrice Bergeron humor compared to soccer

.@SoccerrProblems Patrice Bergeron. pic.twitter.com/zaszIXBh5o
— The Hockey Gods (@HockeyGods) July 19, 2013

This tweet was very funny. Although, it's very true when describing hockey players.

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Coaching by Gothberg

Boston Bruins draftee and current UND goalie Zane Gothberg coaches a group of youth hockey players during a clinic in Burlington. Gothberg is currently attending the Boston Bruins prospect camp.

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UNDSID clears up a few things

Here's a response that @UNDSID  to a post that was on Brad's blog. It's worth a read, it covers a few things that people are talking about.

Comment Posted on July 18, 2013 at 11:34 am said:

Those of us that commented on this in the beginning were told by UND Media Relations and others to be quiet and wait for “Big Announcements”. We knew that this would not be good for those outside of the MidCo area (ND,SD,MN), and we argued that fact. We were told that the streaming would be better, and it did not improve. HD will be great, but if it continuously buffers and dumps, what good is it. UND Media Relations said they would get the Flash Player issue worked out for those with Apple products, but that did not happen. Good luck using an App like Photon to play the feed. It looks like we are stuck with the garbage they are currently using and I am tired of people saying, “be quiet and wait, there will be big news”. Media Relations needs to push hard at a minimum for the FTA feed to be allowed for home games from MidCo for those who had invested in that years ago. That will not effect their dollars to any significance and actually help those outside of the area. That is just one step to appease the growing issues that they will be seeing. Six games is nothing and a huge, huge loss for UND Hockey. I would hope we would at least see some comment from UND, Media Relations or on up, on this problem for their alums outside of ND,SD, and MN.

• 
• Verified UND Official
• 109 posts

Posted Today, 01:38 PM

Hello everyone. It's been awhile -- I trust everyone's had a great summer. I posted this over on Schlossman's blog but figured I'd double up over here. FYI, the "big announcements" reference was in response to a specific comment over there:

No one affiliated with UND Athletics promised anyone “big announcements.” Simply not true.

What we *have* been saying is that we will continue to seek improvements to our viewing options across ALL platforms. That has not changed and that will not change. The broadcast situation we have today may not be the broadcast situation we have by the time the puck drops opening night. Or a year from now. These things evolve, take time and require a little patience.

Did we promise HD webcasts and enhanced webcast support? Yes, beginning with the upcoming season our home webcasts will be offered in high definition. In light of the shifting TV situation, we have allocated and committed the necessary resources to providing high quality web streams.

At the end of the day, fans will still have the ability to watch literally every single home game. Every one of them. Plus four road games. Some of these will be on your television screen and yes, some will have to be on your computer screen. You also have the ability to send the HD webcast feed to your flatscreen TV with one cord and one press of a button. In the coming weeks, our website will offer a video tutorial on how to make that conversion for those who are unfamiliar with the process.

In the meantime, we will continue to do everything within our power to bring more of our games back to national TV. Neither UND, nor the NCHC Commissioner, is ignoring our television situation. Quite the contrary, in fact.

But please understand that it is a work in progress.

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NHL returning to Olympics

Pictograms of Olympic sports - Ice hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It would appear that the NHL is headed back to the Olympic games for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. This is good news for the fans that like to watch the Olympics with the NHL players.

Kevin McGran, thetorontostar.com --- If the NHL goes to Sochi, the league will take a 17-day break to accommodate the Winter Olympics, the Star has learned.

A source told the Star that a leaked copy of the Florida Panthers’ 2013-14 NHL schedule suggests the league is going to take time off in February to accommodate the Games.

The Panthers are not commenting on the schedule that is making its way through Twitter but a copy of it was obtained by the Miami Herald.

On it, the Panthers play Feb. 7 and then again Feb. 27.

The NHL is expected to announce its participation in the Olympics this week and release a full schedule.

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Hitting the links on Thursday NCHC Television focused

CBS Sports Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The newly released television schedule from the NCHC has gotten people talking.  

Here's the Western College Hockey Blog post and they broke down the number games each team has on the schedule. UND 6, Miami 5, Western Michigan, Colorado College and St. Cloud State all have 4 games on the TV schedule. Denver and Duluth have two games. 

Here’s something to chew on; the Mavericks will appear on CBS Sports Network just once when they host Michigan on Friday, Nov. 15. [OmahaMavericks]

The Hockey Writers, NCAA Hockey: Current NCHC Television Deal is Unacceptable

David Drew, MLive.com WMU hockey will have four NCHC games televised on CBSSports Network

Joe Paisley from the Gazette; CC picks up most-ever four national TV regular season games

Studay: Rules Changes Didn't Reduce Concussion Rates in the NHL.

Original NHL logo, used until 2005. A version of the logo features it in the shape of a hockey puck. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oh boy, the Anti-Fighting Cabal is going to have a hay day with this study. Next thing we're going to see is a big push from the same Anti-Fighting Cabal to eliminate fighting from the NHL or the lower leagues, so we can have a study on that.

TSN.CA The data showed that there was no statistical significance in the incidence of concussions in the NHL in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons compared to the 2009-10 season. That latter was the year before the NHL rule change went into effect.

The researchers estimated there were about 5.23 concussions per 100 games in the NHL regular season. Despite its stiffer rule, the OHL didn't have markedly different concussion rates, clocking 5.05 per 100 games in the regular season.

The analysis also showed that the type of hits outlawed by the NHL rule weren't actually the major cause of concussions.
About 28 per cent of interactions produced a concussion also generated a penalty call, said Cusimano. In that 28 per cent, the bulk of the penalties were for fighting. "And blindsiding, which was what the rule was initially was written about, was only 4.1 per cent of all those.... But four per cent of 28 per cent is a very small number."

"I wasn't totally surprised, but I was disappointed that we weren't able to show a difference," Cusimano said.

"Part of it's the way the rule's written. Part of it's the way the rule is enforced. Part of it's the penalties associated with the rule. And part of it is that concussions are also coming from other causes like fighting, that is still allowed."

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