Save of the Week.

This is an unbelieveable save and I would have to say that it is my save of the week. Also, nice to see the Blackhawks win last night.

The Savard and Kessel show.

Tonight the Bruins played the Carolina Huricanes in game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals and Marc Savard and Phil Kessel were on fire. This goal was a thing of beauty and illustrated the Bruins team speed. Kessel also assisted on this goal by Savard as well. Michael Ryder also had another strong game as he chipped in a goal and an assist. As a Bruins fan I really liked what I saw from the Bruins tonight as they pretty much rolled over the Hurricanes.

For the Carolina Hurricanes Former Fighting Sioux forward Ryan Bayda also got his third point in this season's Stanley Cup Playoffs as he assisted on Jussi Jokinen's goal and then Ryan got a penalty as he ran over Tim Thomas. Also, former WMU Bronco Joe Corvo must have iron lungs because he was on the ice for 25+ minutes tonight and was the best player for the Hurricanes tonight.

Mike Brown's hit on Jiri Hudler.

This will be the next hit that is going to be looked at in the NHL. Some in the media are comparing it to the Donald Brashear hit on Blair Betts. It looked like a pretty rough hit and you can bet the NHL will look at the hit. The Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle didn't think the Hit was dirty.

"I'm sure they're going to say it was dirty, but this is a game that's played and physical contact is allowed," Carlyle said. "We timed the hit. From the time he passed the puck until Mike Brown made contact with him, there wasn't a second that went off the clock. It was at 8:36, and the clock did not move by the time he made contact. He didn't hit him with his elbow, he hit him with his shoulder. Hudler was admiring his pass.

"They can talk all they want about a dirty hit. That's not a dirty hit in hockey. You're allowed to take the body in this game."

Ovechkin on Crosby.

Tip of the hat to On Frozen Blog This is kind of like the Tiger and Phil relationship only their relationship isn't quite as icy. Classic stuff here, "We're Not Friends ... We Don't Call Each Other Every Day."

Vandy is returning for senior season.

UND got some very good news today when they found out that junior forward Chris VandeVelde will return to UND for his senior season. I have to admit that I am just a bit giddy with reading this announcement. Also, it would be the first time in a very long time that UND probably won't lose any underclassmen to the NHL/pros. Also, Vandy scored a number of goals at the end of the season with a separated shoulder, that is my definition of tough.

VandeVelde will stay at UND for senior season
Brad Elliott Schlossman --- Grand Forks Herald

The power forward from Moorhead confirmed today that he will return to UND for his senior season, meaning the Sioux are unlikely to lose anyone early.

It has been 10 years since the UND men’s hockey team didn’t lose anyone early to the pros, and this offseason is starting to look eerily similar to 1999.

Back then, a MacNaughton Cup champion team with eight seniors fell short of making the NCAA Frozen Four and watched its leading scorer, among others, graduate.

The most likely candidate to leave school early that summer was 6-foot-3, 205-pound power forward Lee Goren. He decided to return to school and UND went on to win the national championship. Goren was the most outstanding player of the Frozen Four.

Chris VandeVelde can only hope that history will repeat itself.

UND again had a MacNaughton Cup champion team with eight seniors fall short of making the Frozen Four, and it had to say goodbye to its leading scorer, among others.

The most likely candidate to leave was VandeVelde – a 6-foot-2, 205-pound power forward. But today, VandeVelde announced he’s returning to UND for his senior year.

That means UND expects to have all of its underclassmen back for the first time since 1999-00 – which also marks UND’s last national title.

Why not Huntsville?

I keep hearing how UAH isn't a good fit for the CCHA and how the Chargers wouldn't make in the CCHA but UAH has outdrawn the bottom teams of the CCHA with a CHA schedule. What does that say about the bottom teams attendance wise in the CCHA? Miami with the team they have should be selling that beautiful arena out and they are not. What does that say about the CCHA? As a league the CCHA isn't drawing like the WCHA, in fact it isn't even close. Imagine what Huntsville could draw against the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State and Miami. UAH drew their best crowds against their heated rival BSU with 3474 and 4368 respectively. Below I have included the number for attendance for the CCHA. The first number is the # of games, second number is attendance average and the last number is percentage of capacity.

Michigan 19 6714 6,637 101.2
Michigan State 15 5473 6,470 84.6
Ohio State 20 4181 17,500 23.9
Northern Michigan 19 2932 3,754 78.1
Alaska 20 2708 4,324 62.6
Notre Dame 18 2703 2,667 101.3
UAH 10 2688 7,000 38.4
Miami 19 2491 3,200 77.8
Lake Superior 18 2257 3,373 66.9
Western Michigan 21 2112 3,667 57.6
Bowling Green 20 2044 5,000 40.9
Ferris State 18 1424 2,493 57.1

Here are the attendance numbers for the teams that were in the Frozen Four.

Boston University 22 5055 6,221 81.3
Vermont 20 3985 4,035 98.8
Bemidji State 15 1975 2,500 79.0
Miami 19 2491 3,200 77.8

The battle of the super stars.

This should prove to be an interesting series both teams have players with exception offensive skill. Personally I think Sidney Crosby is a good hockey player but a bit of a cry baby, hence the name Cindy Crosby. On the other hand you have the Hart Trophy candidate Alexander Ovechkin who is most offensively dynamic player in the NHL. Ovechkin has scored an impressive 219 goals in his four years in the NHL Sidney Crosby on the other hand can lay claim to 132 goals during the same time period.

The Bruins next opponent.

The Bruins play the Carolina Hurricanes in the next game and this is the reason that bruins can not let up for one minute against the Hurricanes. Just when it looked like the Devils were going to win the series Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal score two goals in the final two minutes to eliminate the Devils. Staal scored the game winning goal for the Canes with 30 seconds to go. How do you respond to that?

Second Round predictions.

West
Duck and Redwings, Ducks in 7 games
The Ducks will BEAT the Redwings out.
Hiller > Osgood.

Canucks and Blackhawks, Blackhawks in 6 games
Buhlin Wall will prevail.
Canucks can't stop Toews and Kane.

East

Bruins and Canes, Bruins in 6 games
Thomas > Ward

Caps and Pens, Capitals in 5 games.
Ovechkin > Crosby

UAH travel distances.

Over on the College Hockey News web site Adam Wodon made the following comment.

UAH to CCHA is not going to happen. We've reported on their site visit. It was not a "site visit" in the classic sense. It was just the CCHA commissioner going there by invitation of UAH, out of courtesy. The CCHA does not want to add expense to its teams by making them have to fly to Alabama.

As opposed to what? Flying driving to Omaha Nebraska? There isn't much of a difference in mileage. One could make the argument that UNO is a lot closer to the schools in the WCHA than the CCHA. I checked the mileage on a few of the distances of travel and this is what I came up with for distances to UAH. I don't buy that argument. That isn't the reason for not allowing UAH or it's not a very good one.

UM - UAH 651 miles
BGSU - UAH 585 miles
OSU - UAH 510 miles
MSU - UAH 672 miles
NMU - UAH 990 miles
ND - UAH 560 miles
LSSU - UAH 951 miles
NMU - UAH 657 miles
MU - UAH 442 miles
UAF - UAH 4137 miles
FSU - UAH 768 miles

Here is the distances from UNO to the various schools in the CCHA.

NMU - UNO 684 miles
UNO - MSU 672 miles
UNO - UM 692 miles
UNO - UMiami 707 miles
UNO - UAF 3270 miles
UNO - NMU 765 miles
UNO - FSU 684 Miles
UNO - ND 545 miles
UNO - OSU 781 miles
UNO - LSSU 903 miles
UNO - WMU 597 miles

You can see there isn't a lot of difference in travel miles and in some cases UAH is closer to some of the schools than UNO is. Here is some of the distances in the WCHA for comparison sake and you will see the UNO is a better fit.

UND - DU 1,029 miles
UND - C.C. 1,100 miles
C.C. - U.W. 1032 miles
C.C. - UMD 1134 miles
C.C - SCSU 1048 miles
MTU - C.C. 1342 miles
C.C. - MSU-M 918 miles
C.C. - UMN 984 miles
C.C. - UNO 609 miles
D.U. - UNO 538 miles
UND - UNO 495 miles
UNO - UMN 377 miles
UNO - UMD 528 miles

The beginning of a two headed monster?

This article was posted over on USCHO, and I like this kid's attitude: he knows he is going to be penciled in as the number two but is going to push the anointed starter of the Fighting Sioux, Brad Eidsness.

Personally, I thought Brad played well last season but he has to be better if the Sioux are to be successful and go deep into the NCAA playoffs. Last season there were times Eidsness gave up soft or unnecessary goals, it was almost like Eidsness lost his focus. The shorthanded goal at the Final Five that Duluth scored was frustrating to say the least. The forward beat the goalie back to the net, those types of mistakes need to be avoided if UND is going to be successful.

With competition at the goaltending position, both men will only get better and the Sioux goaltending will be better because of the competition. I have to say that I am already excited for the next season already.

Dell suits up with Fighting Sioux
Posted By Scott Mitchell, Senior Reporter ---- They did it once and it worked out beautifully. So the University of North Dakota is trying it again.

Last season former Airdrie Xtreme goaltender Brad Eidsness stepped into the Fighting Sioux lineup and was one of the top freshman goaltenders in the NCAA.

This year the Sioux have corralled another goaltender with an Airdrie connection to team with Eidsness as former Airdrie Thunder goaltender Aaron Dell has committed to the school for next season.

The Airdrie native has spent the last two seasons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League with the Calgary Canucks.

While 2007-08 wasn’t a great season for Dell, as he posted a 5-11-2 record and a 3.13 goals against average in 23 games, Dell was brilliant this year.

And schools took notice of his league-high 51 games played, a 25-17-8 record and a 2.53 GAA. He also posted a sparkling .924 save percentage to lead the AJHL and was named to the south all-star team.

Dell will battle with Eidsness – who beat him out for an Airdrie Xtreme spot years ago – right from the beginning.

“I’ll be coming in as the second guy, but they want me to challenge Brad for the first spot,” Dell said.

He stressed that it will be a friendly battle with the incumbent who posted a 2.58 GAA and a 24-12-4 record in his rookie season in one of the NCAA’s top conferences, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

“I’ve played against him since about peewee, so I’ve known him for quite a while,” Dell laughed.

The two caught up earlier this year when Dell took a visit to UND.

“He was my player host while I was down there. He’s pretty excited to have another Alberta boy out there,” he said. “I just have to try and perfect as much as I can and be as ready as possible. I need to be in the best shape I’ve ever been in and be even better than when they saw me last.”

The Federov goal.

This was an awesome goal to end the New York Ranger's season.

Bruins are on Versus

I am very happy that the Boston Bruins will be on Versus Sioux fans will be able to see Former Sioux Ryan Bayda play for the Hurricanes against the Boston Bruins.

May 1 - 7:30 Game 1: Hurricanes @ Bruins Versus JIP/TSN
May 3 - 7:30 Game 2: Hurricanes @ Bruins Versus
May 6 - 7:30 Game 3: Bruins @ Hurricanes Versus JIP/TSN
May 8 - 7:30 Game 4: Bruins @ Hurricanes Versus JIP/TSN
May 10 - 7:30* Game 5:Hurricanes @ Bruins Versus
May 12 - 7:00* Game 6: Bruins @ Hurricanes Versus
May 14 - TBD* Game 7: Hurricanes @ Bruins TSN

Blackhawks games are all on VERSUS.

According to the Chicago Blackhawks offical page all of the Hawks games will be on Versu. That means Sioux fans will be able to watch all of Jonathan Toews on Versus. In Grand Forks, ND that is channel 309 and 69 on your Midco dial.

Thu Apr 30, 2009 Blackhawks Canucks 8:00 PM VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD),RDS (HD)
Sat May 2, 2009 Blackhawks Canucks 8:00 PM VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD)
Tue May 5, 2009 Canucks Blackhawks 7:00 PM VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD)
Thu May 7, 2009 Canucks Blackhawks 7:00 PM VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD)
Sat May 9, 2009 Blackhawks Canucks 9:30 PM VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD)
Mon May 11, 2009 Canucks Blackhawks 8:00 PM VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD)
Thu May 14, 2009 Blackhawks Canucks TBD VERSUS (HD),CBC (HD

How I did on my predictions.

These were my first round predictions. I didn't do too bad with my picks.

East

Montreal at Boston, I predict the Bruins will win in 5 games.
(Actual was 4 games for the habs)
NY Rangers at Washington, I predict the Caps will win in 6 games
(Actual was the Caps in 7 games)
Carolina at New Jersey I predict the Canes to win in 7 games.
(Picked this series right)
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh I predict the Pittsburgh in 6 games.
(Picked this series right)

West

Anaheim at San Jose, I predict the Sharks will win in 5 games.
(Actual the Ducks in 6)
Columbus at Detroit, I predict the Blue Jackets will win in 7 games.
(Actual Detroit in 4)
St. Louis at Vancouver, I predict the Canucks will win in 7 games.
(Actual Vancouver in 4 games)
Calgary at Chicago, I predict the Blackhawks will win in 7 games.
(Actual Chicago in 6 games)

WCHA to pursue 12 teams.

This would appear to be good news for Bemidji State University and basically mean eventually the WCHA will be a 12 team league. Now we need to convince UNO to make the move to the WCHA.

WCHA men’s membership opts to pursue future expansion to 12 teams
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. ----- The membership of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s men’s league, acting at it’s annual meeting today (April 28, 2009), has opted to pursue expansion of the league membership from it’s current 10-member team to a future membership of 12 teams.

The timetable for expansion consists of lifting the current moratorium as of today and continuing indefinitely. The lifting of the moratorium on expansion means the WCHA can entertain membership applications from any interested institutions who meet the league’s criteria for membership. Meeting the criteria for membership does not, however, guarantee admittance into the Association.

“The Western Collegiate Hockey Association membership today took a positive step forward in their decision to embrace possible expansion,” said WCHA Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod, “and we will continue to explore we may expand once we have completed further studies and once we have been able to identify potential members that fit the league’s criteria for membership. Obviously, there are numerous issues involved in expansion, just a few of which include the transformation from a 10-team, 28-game conference schedule to an expanded 12-member team format that would still enable us to protect our natural rivalries as best as possible, and to make certain we safeguard our successful flagship event – the WCHA Final Five.

“The WCHA has a proud history of being sensitive to the issue of expansion and the plight of other collegiate hockey programs and today’s development is a further indication that the Association will continue its tradition of assisting in the growth and development of collegiate ice hockey with an ultimate goal of expanding.”

The 10 teams that currently make up the men’s WCHA are University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), Colorado College (CC), University of Denver (DU), Michigan Technological University (MTU), University of Minnesota (UM), University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU), University of North Dakota (UND), St. Cloud State University (SCSU) and University of Wisconsin (UW). The last expansion in the WCHA occured in 1999-2000 when Minnesota State University, Mankato joined the conference as it’s 10th team.

The Commissioner’s office, in conjunction with the league’s structure committe, will head up the expansion effort with the goal of identifying potential member teams as soon as possible. The earliest the WCHA would be able to integrate new teams into the men’s league would be for the 2011-2012 season based on current contractual obligations.

“The WCHA also wants to note that Bemidji State University’s presentation to the league at the annual meeing on April 27 was very professional and well received,” said McLeod. “The BSU student body, faculty, alumni, and the entire community should know that the league membership came away impressed with the University’s commitment to the student-athlete, both on and off the ice, the long track record of success their hockey program has achieved, the breaking of ground for the new Bemidji State Regional Events Center, and the degree of excitement throughout the community and northern Minnesota for the future of BSU Hockey.”

Bemidji State University’s application for league membership will remain under active consideration.

Bemidji State is an original member of the WCHA’s women’s league, which was founded in 1999-2000 and this past season celebrated it’s 10th anniversary.

Joe Thornton vs Ryan Getzlaf

What a way to start a game, Thornton and Getzlaf drop the gloves and get after it. Like PJ Stock said on CBC last night I suppose next year it will be a penalty for a staged fight. I personally enjoyed it and I don't think anyone should be punished for dropping the gloves off the opening face off. The Fans love it.

Brashear gets 6 games.

The NHL has made an example out of Washington Capitals goon Donald Brashear. I am actually shocked that they suspended him this long based on their past decisions.

NHL.com --- Washington forward Donald Brashear has been suspended for six games by the National Hockey League and will miss Tuesday's Game 7 of the Capitals' Eastern Conference Quarterfinal round series against the New York Rangers for his action both prior to, and during, Sunday's Game 6.

Brashear was suspended one game for initiating contact with Rangers forward Colton Orr during the pre-game warm-up. Brashear was suspended for five additional games for a blind-side hit on New York forward Blair Betts at 9:54 of the first period.

"Brashear delivered a shoulder hit to an unsuspecting player," NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said. "It is also my opinion that the hit was delivered late and targeted the head of his opponent, causing significant injury."

BSU Makes it bid.

Bemidji State University sent a delegation from the school to the WCHA meetings and made their presentation this morning to the WCHA in Florida. Word is that the meeting went very well. Obviously the sticking point is that 11 teams is very tough to schedule. Also, apparently some of the Western schools are a little leary of a 11 team league and not seeing key match ups like UND, MN, WI.

Bemidji State makes presentation to WCHA
Bemidji Pioneer ----- Published Monday, April 27, 2009

Bemidji State University officials and a representative of the Leo A Daly architectural firm made a presentation to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Monday morning at Marco Island, Fla. BSU is applying to have its men's hockey team accepted as a member of the WCHA.

"I thought it went very well," said Bemidji State Athletic Director Rick Goeb. "We made our presentation and answered some questions. None of the questions came as a surprise, and we feel like we had very positive feedback."

The Bemidji contingent spent a little more than an hour with WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod and the conference men’s hockey representatives.

Now the representatives will determine the next step. Eight of the 10 WCHA schools must approve Bemidji State's application for admission.

"We expect to hear the results on Tuesday," Goeb said.

The Beavers now compete in College Hockey America but are seeking a new conference home for the men’s hockey program. The CHA will fold after the 2009-10 season because of a lack of teams.

The CHA now is composed of Bemidji, Niagara University, Robert Morris University and Alabama-Hunstville – but both Niagara and Robert Morris are set to join the Atlantic College Conference in 2010-11.

The ideal conference for Bemidji is the WCHA, a 10-team conference with elite teams such as Minnesota, Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth.

Bemidji brought a strong contingent of representatives to Florida. Included are BSU President Jon Quistgaard; Bill Maki, vice president for finance and administration; Rob Bollinger, executive director of the BSU Foundation; former BSU coach R.H. “Bob” Peters; Doug Leif, a business professor at BSU and the faculuty athletic representative; BSU head coach Tom Serratore; Goeb; and Steve Parker, the senior project manger for Leo A Daly, Bemidji Regional Event Center designer.

Bemidji State’s women’s hockey program already is a member of the WCHA. The presentation this week will be made to the men’s representatives of the WCHA

NESN Feature on Kessel.

I included the video from last season's Stanley Cup playoffs because I think it was a break out game for Former Gopher Phil Kessel. This season Kessel has taken it up a notch and has become a big time goal score for the Boston Bruins and scored a boat load of goals against the Bruins hated rival the Montreal Canadians. This year the Bruins marched past the Hab's and into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1998-1999. Here is a nice story about Phil Kessel that was posted up on NESN.

For Kessel, what a difference a year can make
James Murphy ----- April 27th 2009

While Phil Kessel has learned much tougher lessons off the ice - battling and beating testicular cancer during his rookie season in 2006-07 — he learned a valuable lesson about life in the NHL in his first playoff experience last spring. After notching an assist in Game 1 of the Bruins’ first-round series against the Canadiens, Kessel was benched for the next three games. It wasn’t an enjoyable experience for the winger, but he handled it professionally.

“Obviously, I was mad,” Kessel said recently. “It was a tough situation. But I moved on from it and learned from it.”
Kessel put the benching behind him with three goals in Games 5 and 6, helping the Bruins force Game 7 after trailing 3-1 in the series. For the Bruins, that series was a lesson they could compete with their archrivals, which Boston proved with a sweep of Montreal this postseason.

For Kessel, last year’s series was a lesson that hard work pays off in the NHL, and that effort is required no matter how much talent and skill a player possesses. The latter is something Bruins coach Claude Julien made a point to convey to his budding star.

“That’s the thing that Phil understood at one point, that if coaches are on you a little more than maybe some other players, maybe it’s because we think that you’re capable of giving us more than some of those players,” Julien said during the Bruins-Canadiens series. “That comes with the territory. You want to be an elite player. You have to give us a little more. And he’s really understood that extremely well.”

Kessel’s understanding and acceptance of Julien’s criticism and coaching methods translated into a breakthrough season in 2008-09. The 2006 first-round draft pick lit the lamp 36 times and had 60 points during the regular season. Kessel has followed that up with four goals and six points in the playoffs. Counting the regular season, he will enter the second round in the midst of an eight-game points streak with nine goals and 13 points during that span