Hakstol and Frattin speak out.

I think at the press conference Coach Hakstol and Matt Frattin do a lot of speaking around the issues but it appears that Matt went back to Canada and worked on some personal issues and accomplished some bench marks that the coaching staff set for Frattin.

I have to admit that I am excited about the prospects of adding an experienced offensive player to a lineup that is starving for goals. Let’s hope that the young man can get his act together and realize that it’s a privilege to wear the Fighting Sioux uniform. I like the fact that he is very contrite.

Oshie looking to make Team USA.

Tim Oshie sent me this in my email so I decided to put it up on the blog. It would be neat to see a few more former UND boys make Team USA. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to see quite a few former WCHA players on team USA.

For Immediate Press Release
December 29, 2009

By Jack McCarthy
Special to USAHockey.com

Warroad, Minn., may not be very large, yet it carries an outsized representation in U.S. Olympic hockey circles.

Home to 1,700 people and perched on the southwest shoreline of Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota, Warroad is home to three Olympic goal medal winners and at least five more who represented the United States on the ice.

And 22-year-old St. Louis Blues center T.J. Oshie hopes to become the latest on the list.

“There are a lot of Olympians from Warroad and they talked to me about it and told me I’d be there some day,” said Oshie, who won two Class A state championships while at Warroad High School. “Henry Boucha, he’s my cousin, he talked to me quite a bit about it and showed me his [1972] silver medal and that was pretty special.”

Warroad also is home to 1960 gold medal winners Bill Christian and brother, Roger. Bill’s son, Dave, was a member of the 1980 Miracle on Ice gold medalists. The Christian family also manufactured hockey sticks of the same name in Warroad for 35 years. The town secured its first female Olympian last week when Warroad native Gigi Marvin was named to the U.S. women’s Olympic team.

Oshie has experienced a whirlwind 16 months as he jumped from college (University of North Dakota) to the pros (St. Louis Blues) and now stands poised to represent his country at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

“It’s unbelievable. I never thought I’d be here, especially at this age, but I’m very proud,” said Oshie, who skated with 19 other forward prospects at the Team USA orientation camp in suburban Chicago during August. “It’s surprising with all the caliber of players here, but everyone is bonding very well and everyone gets along.”

Oshie is coming off a successful, if slightly abbreviated rookie season with the Blues.

Hampered by an ankle injury early in 2008-09, he went on to appear in 57 regular season games and made increasingly bigger contributions as the season progressed.

He closed with 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points. Fourteen points came in the Blues’ final 15 games as St. Louis reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2004. In 30 games so far this season, Oshie has 18 points (7-11).

A popular YouTube video featured Oshie’s punishing, but clean hits on Columbus winger Rick Nash last March. And he’s so popular with Blues fans that his No. 74 jersey is a top-seller, reportedly three-times better than his closest teammate.

He frequently updates a Twitter page and said prior to the orientation camp that he “hoped to make Blues fans proud.” And his Facebook page has nearly 2,800 followers. It includes a 2005 clip from Oshie’s high school days when he won a faceoff, then earned an assist on a game-winning goal in the Minnesota state championship game.

Shortly thereafter, the centerman was the Blues’ top pick (24th overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

But pro play was put on hold as Oshie opted for a college career at North Dakota. He put in three seasons and 129 games for the Fighting Sioux, collecting 59 career goals and 83 assists for 142 points. North Dakota reached the NCAA Frozen Four three straight times with Oshie on board.

He also has two previous associations with Team USA, including seven games in the 2006 World Junior Championships, where he had one goal. Earlier this year, he played nine games in the Men’s World Championships, picking up one goal and a pair of assists.

“It’s great. I love the guys to death and we’re all good friends,” Oshie said. “There’s a lot of good friendships and we only get to hang out at these events, so it’s fun.”

And he’d like nothing better than to renew some of those summertime camp acquaintances in Vancouver.

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Fenway ice build

Here is the Fenway Park time elapse rink build for the Winter Classic. I have to say that I never imagined a hockey game being played on the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park. I wonder if the Bruins will face the curse of the Babe?

I must admit that I have been to thirteen baseball games at Fenway Park during the late 1980’s and frankly it might be worth going to a hockey game in Fenway, just because of the history. I am also bored with the outdoor hockey games. I think the concept is a real yawner, this year the forecast is calling for 40 degrees and snow.

Toews makes team Canada.

Former Fighting Sioux forward Jonathan Toews has made team Canada. [Roster]
Goalies

Martin Brodeur (NHL)
Roberto Luongo (NHL)
Marc-Andre Fleury (NHL)

Defense

Chris Pronger (A) (NHL)
Shea Weber (NHL)
Brent Seabrook (NHL)
Scott Niedermayer (C) (NHL)
Dan Boyle (NHL)(Miami University - CCHA)
Drew Doughty (NHL)
Duncan Keith (NHL)

Forwards

Sidney Crosby (A) (NHL
Jarome Iginla (A) (NHL)
Jonathan Toews (NHL)
Rick Nash (NHL)
Eric Staal (NHL)
Mike Richards (NHL)
Brenden Morrow (NHL)
Dany Heatley (NHL)(University of Wisconsin, WCHA)
Joe Thornton (NHL)
Ryan Getzlaf (NHL)
Patrick Marleau (NHL)
Corey Perry (NHL)
Patrice Bergeron (NHL)

Boggie kicks the snot out of Nick Boynton and linesman.

Derek Boogaard absolutely beats the snot out of former Boston Bruin Nick Boynton and then the ref gets hit in the ribs with a Derek Boogaard punch while breaking up the fight. My first question; is Nick Boynton crazy? What the heck was he thinking? You're taking on the Boogie man who is one of the best most feared fighters in the NHL?

This goes back to the premise of fighting someone for a checking someone. In this instance Derek Boogaard didn’t even hit the Ducks forward Dan Sexton, yet Boynton is going to stand up and fight an experienced cement head like Derek Boogaard for a non-hit. Of course Boogaard is going to Oblige. I see challenging someone for a dirty hit, a checking from behind or for a head shot. Boynton deserves to get his butt kicked.

Who's going to be on Team USA.

Well we know two of the players on "Team USA" they are Phil Kessel and defenceman Mike Komisarek. I would predict that Zach Parise, Paul Statsny, Patrick Kane, Tim Thomas, Ryan Miller, Jamie Langenbrunner are also locks to make the team.

EDMONTON – Leafs forward Phil Kessel and defenceman Mike Komisarek appear to have sewn up spots on the American Olympic hockey team.

Leafs coach Ron Wilson — who's also the coach of the U.S. team — let the cat out of the bag at Leaf practice when he was asked if the upcoming Olympic team announcements could be a distraction for players or even himself.

"Not at all. I know what the team is. To me it's not a distraction," said Wilson. "I think Phil Kessel knows pretty well and probably Mike Komisarek knows they're probably on the team. They've been talked to a lot about it.

"I think pretty much everybody on our team knows who's going, you're just waiting for an official announcement."

The Americans are set to announce their lineup on Jan. 1 as part of the festivities at the NHL's Winter Classic at Boston's Fenway Park. The Canadians are making their announcement Wednesday in Saskatoon at the world junior hockey championship.
[thestar.com]

Drew Stafford on fire.

Former Fighting Sioux star Drew Stafford was a healthy scratch in his team’s last game against T.J. Oshie and the St. Louis Blues’. Stafford took his benching to heart and responded by getting two goals and an assist, to help the Sabres over come a three goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sabres all world goalie Ryan Miller was pulled after giving up three goals.

Stafford also assisted on former Fargo resident Paul Gaustad's 8th goal of the season. So with Stafford two goals and an assist tonight Drew has(9g-10g-19pts)Stafford's two goals tonight broke a 15 game goaless streak.

Frattin back with the Fighting Sioux

The Fighting Sioux got some good news today as it was announced that Junior forward Matt Frattin has re-enrolled in school and will make a return to the Fighting Sioux line up. Frattin. Frattin was dismissed from the team last August after getting arrested for DWI in Grand Forks, ND.

This news was also on UND beat writer Brad Schlossman's twitter.com feed. This is pretty good news for UND, who have at times been offensively challenged.

Schlossman - Hakstol says Frattin returned to campus in good shape. "It's very apparent to me that he's done - not a little bit of work - a lot of work."
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Schlossman - Frattin will travel to Chicago, but Hakstol says it's too early to know whether he will play.
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Schlossman - Hakstol on Frattin: "To this point, he's done all the right things. It's one day at a time. He's eligible to play."
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Schlossman - Matt Frattin has re-enrolled at UND and will be at media day Thursday morning

Here is the offical press release.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - University of North Dakota head men's hockey coach Dave Hakstol announced today that junior forward Matt Frattin has enrolled in spring classes at UND and has resumed practicing with the Fighting Sioux.

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Frattin is immediately eligible for NCAA competition.

Frattin was dismissed from the team in August due to a violation of team rules.

In 42 games with the Sioux last season, Frattin scored 13 goals and added 12 assists for 25 points. A fourth-round draft pick (99th overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2007, Frattin has 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 85 career games at UND

Pension Plan Puppets has also picked up the story. To answer the blogger’s question, yeah its good news for Frattin because life has given him a second chance and it's time to make hay with the opportunity.

Coach Hakstol weighs in on the move: Here is what coach Hakstol had to say about Fratting being given another chance.

To this point, he’s done all the right things,” Hakstol said. “He’s eligible to play. I’m approaching it one day forward at a time. He needs to continue doing a good job day by day. If he continues to do the right things day by day, there will be another opportunity for him.

“I’m really impressed with the way Matt has handled everything right from Day One. He had other options. He probably chose the most difficult path in deciding to return to the University of North Dakota. He decided to do whatever it took.”

Frattin, a fourth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, had 13 goals and 25 points last season. He was the team’s third-leading goal scorer behind Ryan Duncan and Chris VandeVelde.

During the past few months, Frattin has been working out and skating near Edmonton.

“It’s tough to do things on your own, but he found a way,” Hakstol said. “It’s very apparent to me that he’s done. . . not a little bit of work. . . but a lot of work. He’s in very good condition judging by the two practices we’ve had — which were pretty competitive practices.”

Frattin is expected to address the media on Wednesday morning.

When Frattin was dismissed following a driving under the influence arrest, UND said that his status may be revisited. He has been reinstated for two main reasons.

“The program comes first,” Hakstol said, “and this is about having a good outcome for a good, young man that needed to get himself back on track.”
[Grand Forks Herald]

Head shots...

I am not sure why this doctor Dr. Charles Tator is picking a fight with Hockey personality and hockey legend Don Cherry? I have watched Don Cherry on the Coaches’ Corner for over 25 years and I have never heard him out there promoting hitting the opposition in the head. If anything I have heard the opposite, I have heard Cherry blast thugs like Ulfie Samuelsson that play the game cheap. During many shows I have heard Cherry speak against using some of the hardened equipment that players use today. Listen to video and what Cherry has to say, he isn't promoting head shots.

Recently, at the Regina workshop, I indicated that the "rock 'em, sock 'em" type of hockey espoused by commentators such as Don Cherry can no longer be the culture that dictates our game. We need to depart from the "win at all costs" mentality and return to the game when players had respect for their own bodies and respect for their opponents.

This message has been given by many others, such as the McMurtry report on amateur hockey violence in Ontario in 1974. In my book on sports and recreational injuries published last year, the cost of all sports and recreational injuries in Ontario was estimated at about $3 billion.

However, the costs in terms of grieving families and suffering athletes is much more important and of even greater magnitude than we had imagined, as demonstrated by the work from Boston University reported recently in the Star. This report included the case of former NHL player Reggie Fleming whose brain had major damage after repeated concussions.
[The Star]

Minnesota Wild equipment fire damage estimated at $100,000.

I couldn't believe it when I first saw that the Wild equipment fire damage was estimated at $100,000.00 that is a lot of money for hockey equipment. After watching last night’s games between the Wild and the Kings there seems to be no lingering effects of the fire.

Tony DaCosta stood in the middle of the Wild's dressing room Sunday morning at the Xcel Energy Center, holding an ice skate in each hand and exchanging wisecracks with players.

In the middle of packing the team's gear for its first road trip since fire destroyed more than two-thirds of it on Dec. 18 in Ottawa, DaCosta seemed in his usual good mood; the Wild had won two straight games, and everything appeared to be back to normal.

DaCosta put the skates down and shook his head.

"We're far from back to normal," he said. "We're about 50 percent."

DaCosta believes a blowtorch ignited in the back of the Ottawa Senators' equipment truck during the short drive from the Kanata Recreation Centre, where the Wild practiced, to Scotiabank Place, where the Senators defeated the Wild 4-1 on Dec. 19.

He estimated damages at about $100,000.

No one knows for sure if a blowtorch started the fire, but DaCosta knows one thing: "First of all, there'll never be a torch again on a truck that I'm on, that's for sure."

He's not nervous, just "more aware" as the team sets off on another road trip.

DaCosta, 42, the head equipment manager for the Wild from the beginning, reached into a cabinet and pulled out one of the blowtorches players use to custom bend the blades of their sticks. He pushed the ignition button and released it, and there was only a short burst of propane. He held the button, and the torch flamed to life.

For that to happen on the truck that day, he said, was "one in a million."
Equipment personnel go by the Boy Scout motto: be prepared.
[TwinCities.com]

Some of the best hockey of the decade CBC style.

I found this over at Kuklas Korner and I personally love CBC NHL hockey coverage because they just cover the games and don't get into all of the homerisms that you get when watch some of the hockey games on NHL Center Ice. The Duck's announcers are the worst in the business.

I believe 2000-2009 decade was definitely filled with some great hockey moments. For hockey events I would include the 2005 WJC tourney that was held at the Ralph. The NHL was locked out and the WJC tourney included many great NHL hockey players like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Dion Phaneuf, Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Jeff Carter and Patrice Bergeron also current NHLers and former WCHA stars Drew Stafford and Phil Kessel were on Team USA. I must admit that I paid 100.00 to watch the championship game between Canada and Russia; I have never heard the Ralph rock like it did that night.

Minnesota Wild's James Sheppard copes with loss of playing time

When I saw this article I couldn't resist, however, my celebration was short lived because reality set in really fast. Unfortunately for the Minnesota Wild, the waste of a first round pick James Sheppard is going to be playing more because of the untimely injury to Chuck Kobasew who is out for at least a month with a leg injury after running into Keith Tkachuck in the third period of Saturday night’s game. The hit was a knee on knee hit but I didn’t think it was dirty or pre-meditated, Tkachuck is not known to be a dirty player.

According to Wild beat writer Michael Russo, the Wild will be without right wing Chuck Kobasew for four to six weeks with a sprained MCL. There's also some damage to the ACL, but the swelling needs to decrease before the extent is determined. This is a tough loss for the Wild because Kobasew can play defense and chip in offensively and is a nice third line player.

Forward James Sheppard, one of only two players to appear in every game for the Wild last season, has missed five games this season but returned to the lineup after a one-game absence when Minnesota played host to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Asked if being in and out of the lineup is frustrating or simply something he has to shake off and demonstrate in practice he's worthy of playing, he said, "It's both."

A 21-year-old forward who was grabbed ninth overall in the first round of the 2006 NHL draft, Sheppard went into Saturday's game with only two goals and three assists in 32 games and occasionally has become the odd man out up front in coach Todd Richards' offense.

All Sheppard can do, he said, is work to change that.

"I don't get the final say who's in," he added, "so I have to give them no choice but to put me in there." [Twin Cities.com]

Mason Raymond with the hat trick.

I love watching the former college hockey and WCHA stars do well in the professional ranks after their college career is over. Check out former UMD Bulldog and current Vancouver Canuck Mayson Raymond’s hat trick. Raymond is having one heck of a season; in 39 games he has (17g-12a-29pts). Raymond has already surpassed his career best in goals and assists in a season as well.

Fighting Sioux nickname #2 story of the year.

Let's see we have two wars, a horrible economy, companies bleeding jobs and this is the number two story of the year according to the Alerus center cheerleader, I mean Grand Forks Herald writer Tu-Uyen Tran,.

No. 2: UND nickname dispute

The dispute over UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname simmered and boiled into yet another year. True to form, it continued to defy anyone’s guess at how it might end. In theory, the university has until Nov. 30, 2010, to win approval from both the state’s Sioux tribes. That’s what it says in the settlement between the state and the NCAA, which opposes American Indian nicknames.

One of the tribes, the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation, voted overwhelmingly in April to grant that approval. Yet the following month, the State Board of Higher Education put a crimp in their victory by imposing its own September deadline for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to grant the same approval. The stated reason is UND wants to join the Summit League, but that athletic conference won’t consider an application until the nickname issue is settled.

With little movement from Standing Rock even to have a public vote, the board moved its deadline to Oct. 31 to see if the tribe would show any sign of granting approval. The board was on the verge of retiring the nickname in November when Spirit Lake nickname supporters sued the board to force it to abide by the original deadline. They lost, but the appeals process means the nickname issue will continue into next year.

Thomas save on Leopold

Check out this save by Tim Thomas at the end of the game to rob former Gopher Jordan Leopold. What a save.

A couple of Bruins things.

Stanley Cup of Chowder has Boxing Day Poll who is the best Bruins fighting of the Decade. In my opinion it's Milan Lucic. Why because he can fight but he can also play the game. Most of the other Bruins goon's were one dimensional. One NHL GM once refered to Lucic 'as a whole lot of nasty.'

There is also some good news on the Milan Lucic front, looks like Lucic is close to returning to the Bruins line up. We can only hope, because the Bruins could use Lucic's toughness in the lineup, especially with Mark Stuart out of the lineup with a broken sternum.

Milan Lucic is with the team on the road trip. But Lucic has yet to be activated from injured reserve, indicating that he will not dress in either game. This is the first time Lucic has traveled with his teammates since spraining his ankle against Minnesota last month. [Bruins blog]

NCAA Round Up: Half way looking at the pre-season top 20

Here is this weeks column that I wrote for the Illegal Curve.

This was my pre-season top twenty and their current record. It would appear that Notre Dame, Minnesota, Boston University, Vermont are not as good as I originally thought they would be. Also, we can infer that college hockey is going to be wide open this season, there is a lot of parity. I believe that Miami and DU are the favorites right now but that doesn’t mean either of these two teams are going to win the whole thing. I hope I don't upset my Canadian Friends from the Illegal Curve: Go Team USA and Merry Christmas.

1.) Denver University – 11-5-2
2.) Miami University – 13-2-5
3.) Notre Dame – 8-8-4
4.) University of North Dakota – 9-6-3
5.) Boston University – 4-9-3
6.) University of Michigan – 9-9-0
7.) Vermont University – 8-6-2
8.) University of Minnesota – 8-9-1
9.) University of Wisconsin – 11-5-2
10.)University of Mass Lowell – 10-6-1
11.)University of Minnesota Duluth – 11-6-1
12.) Boston College – 10-3-2
13.) Yale University – 7-3-2
14.) Princeton University – 4-8-1
15.) University of New Hampshire – 8-6-3
16.) Northeastern University – 6-8-1
17.) Saint Cloud State University – 8-7-3
18.) Northern Michigan University – 7-8-4
19.) Cornell University – 7-2-2
20.) U.S. Air Force Academy – 8-6-4

Team USA captains.

Here are the captains for team USA's. [USA Hockey Press Release]

• CAPTAINS OF THE SHIP -- On Christmas Eve, Team
USA’s players selected their captains for the 2010 IIHF
World Junior Championship:
Derek Stepan Captain
Jordan Schroeder Alternate
David Warsofsky Alternate
John Carlson Alternate

Adams hit on Alfredson

There has been a lot of discussion head shot the past season and if the NHL decides to change the rules on head shots it, "would prohibit contact with the head - even with a shoulder." I think it would mean that this hit would be ruled to be an illegal. [NHL.COM]

In my opinion this is a legal check and doesn’t appear to be a head shot. The thing that makes it look bad is Daniel Alfredson loses his helmet because it appears that it's not on tight enough. I can see where the ref would probably assume that he Daniel was hit in the head. Hockey is a physical sport and if they enact this rule it's going to cause hockey hitting to decline.

Merry Christmas...

Rex Howell from the Deer Camp Blog has a yearly Christmas card on his outdoor blog and I made it again this season. See if you can pick me out in the picture. I hope everyone is safe and sound at home and not trying to travel through the blizzard that is currently raising havoc on the Midwest. This morning while leaving my house for work I had to wade through 6-8 inches of new snow. It’s definitely hockey weather now. I am sure the sub zero weather will be up soon.