Brad Eidsness returning to UND for senior season.

USA Today Photo

According to UND hockey guru Brad Schlossman junior Goalie Brad Eidsness will be returning for his senior season at the University of North Dakota. This past season Eidsness was relegated to back up goalie after sophomore goalie Aaron Dell took over the starting duties. With the return of Brad Eidsness to the Fighting Sioux roster, it will mean that the Fighting Sioux will not have to rush the development of Sioux goalie recruit Zane Gothberg who was the back up goalie with the Fargo Force last season.

Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald; Grand Forks Herald --- The UND men’s hockey team will have plenty of question marks next year, but not in the most important position of all.

Goaltender Brad Eidsness, who will earn his undergraduate degree in three years, has decided to return to school for his senior year of eligibility while he begins his pursuit of a masters degree.

Coupled with the decision of Aaron Dell to return for his junior year, UND will have perhaps the best 1-2 tandem in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Dell was an All-American last year after setting the school record in victories and Eidsness is a two-time all-conference goaltender.

While Eidsness played in only seven games as a junior (4.09 goals-against average, .812 save percentage), he proved during his first two seasons that he’s a reliable goaltender capable of carrying the Sioux to a championship.

During his freshman year, he led the Sioux to the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champions by playing 41 games and posting a 2.56 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. As a sophomore, he led UND to the Broadmoor Trophy as WCHA postseason champion by posting a 2.11 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 41 games.

Eidsness weighed whether to move on from UND because of his lack of playing time as a junior coupled with the completion of his degree.

All I can say is... (Redwing77)

WOW!!!!

I'll be the first Red Wing fan to say, "I'm surprised and amazed." San Jose fans will be the first to say, "And we were part of those mocking Boston last year? Uh...."

Down 3 games to none, I pegged Detroit as done. They played San Jose pretty close, but, in my opinion, they lacked the finishing ability to make San Jose pay. Sure, on paper, they have plenty, but in reality, they'd seem to dominate and all that would happen is that Detroit would have the puck a lot. We made Niemi look absolutely incredible. To be truthful, Niemi is good and he should not feel bad about the turn of events. However, Detroit's defense has been porous and their risks exploited by San Jose up until Game 4 and, even in Game 4, we barely clawed out a win.

So, imagine my nonsurprise to see Periods 1 and 2 tonight. Detroit pretty much dominating the first 40 minutes and unable to finish. Then, to win, we score 3 goals in 20 minutes and only give up 1. Wow.

To be truthful....

The first period featured officiating that, I thought, reminded me of WCHA officiating. Dan Boyle gets a checking from behind or boarding penalty....no wait. The ref forgot to raise his arm. However, he remembers to call Boyle a few seconds later for a tickytack holding call. Total make up call. Remember, folks, you don't need make up calls if you just call the game the way the rule book says. But these are the playoffs and the rulebook somehow changes. Oh well.

And Detroit scored the 3rd goal as a gift. San Jose was right. We had too many men on the ice. Sure, the angles don't show when Filpula got off the ice and match it with when Helm touched the puck, but I counted 6 and Helm, to me, was skating up ice while Filpula was still technically on the ice. It would have made the last 40+ seconds unbelievable if the refs got it right and put San Jose up a man.

However, I stand by my previous statement: San Jose went up 3-0 and has only to win 1 of the next 4 games to move on. Detroit has just taken up all the slack and play San Jose has to make it a big game. San Jose could still very well pull it off. And they have the guy in net who knows the feeling. It took 7 games to beat Philly for Niemi to raise the cup. Howard is in untested waters. Sure, he's not played poorly throughout, but Niemi still holds the edge.

What if...

If San Jose wins Game 7, as a Red Wings fan, I'll be bummed for sure. However, I will not blast Detroit for choking or yellow trickling down the leg. I would have had they bowed out in 4 or 5 games, though.

Go Wings, beat the Sharks. Then beat the pesky Canucks!

Ice Edge pulls out of Coyotes deal ahead of City Council vote

Here is the latest in the never ending saga...

PHOENIX - Ice Edge Holdings has withdrawn its minority interest in the proposed purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes ahead of a Glendale City Council vote that would put off finalizing any deal by as long as a year.

Ice Edge CEO Anthony LeBlanc said Tuesday that his organization had been involved in the process with the Coyotes "long enough."

Ice Edge once had tried to buy the team as the majority owner but accepted minority status when Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer entered the picture.

Hulsizer's efforts to buy the team from the NHL have stalled in the face of a threatened lawsuit by the conservative Goldwater Institute watchdog group over terms of a lease agreement worked out with Glendale for the team to continue to play in Jobing.com Arena.

LeBlanc said his company would concentrate on its minor league hockey operations in Thunder Bay, Ont. He also plans to run for political office there, he said.

The move has no serious implications for the bid by Hulsizer, whom LeBlanc said would be "a terrific owner."

But Hulsizer's efforts have hit a logjam that may be impossible to break, since he has indicated he has made his last, best offer and the Goldwater Institute vows to sue if the city follows through on the deal. The institute is concerned that the generous terms of the lease violate the state's constitutional ban on subsidizing private enterprise.

The TV Schedule for the Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning series.

1. Saturday May 14th, 2011 Boston – 7:00 pm Central. (Versus)
2. Tuesday May 17th, 2011 Boston – 7:00 pm Central. (Versus)
3. Thursday May 19th, 2011 St. Petersburg – 7:00 pm Central. (Versus)
4. Saturday May 21st, 2011 St. Petersburg – 1:30 pm Central. (NBC)
5. Monday May 23rd, 2011 Boston – 7:00 pm Central.* (Versus)
6. Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 St. Petersburg – 7:00 pm Central.*
7. Friday May 27th, 2011 Boston – 7:00 pm Central.* (Versus)

The Bruins and the Lighting will begin play on May 14th...

Herald Opinion Page; Lawmakers assumed responsibility for nickname

I think this opinion piece from Tom Dennis brings up a good point, that I am going to expound on just a little more; why aren't our elected leaders from “Team North Dakota” (Kent Conrad, John Hoeven, Rick Berg) also involved in this process as well? Why not give the North Dakota's elected leaders congressional a call and ask them; here are the phone numbers, Senator Conrad’s office: 701-232-8030, Senator Hoeven's office: 701-239-5389 or Congressman Berg's office: (701)-224-0355. Remember, if you call them be respectful, I have found in the past Senators Conrad's staff to be very polite and easy to work with.

Tom Dennis for the Herald, Grand Forks Herald ---- “You break it, you own it.” That’s the Pottery Barn rule, said former Secretary of State Colin Powell. It’s also the warning Powell gave to President George W. Bush on the eve of the invasion of Iraq.

Today, Gov. Jack Dalrymple and North Dakota legislative leaders should remember the Pottery Barn rule as they weigh their options regarding the Fighting Sioux nickname.

By passing a law forcing UND to keep the nickname, the Legislature and governor took responsibility for the issue. That means they now have a duty to minimize or eliminate any harm to UND.

And that, in turn, means they should act to bring about a positive outcome rather than passively observing what happens next.

“Be a player who makes things happen,” smart coaches often tell their athletes. It’s good guidance for the governor and legislative leaders, too, if they’re looking for advice on what to do next.

For UND and the State Board of Higher Education were on their way to settling the issue when the Legislature and governor intervened. Now, the best outcome — convincing the NCAA to relax its upcoming sanctions against UND — very likely will demand the governor and lawmakers’ leadership and active involvement.

They’re the elected officials with the status and clout that offer the best chance of persuading the association. They’re the leaders with the stature to ask North Dakota’s congressional delegation to join the effort, thereby presenting a united front of impressive strength to the NCAA.

Edit: The Bisonville faithful are at it again...

EDIT: This is the kind of crap that you see on the message board from our neighbors to the south on a regular basis. That's why I refer to this objectionable message board as Belligerentville.... Just for the record; while the cartoon in question was posted by an alleged Bison fan Notorious, the actual cartoon in question was drawn by this artist Marty G. Two Bulls.

Here is my question to the readers; I want to make sure that I am getting this right. Are we to believe that Govenor Jack Dalrymple is a KKK Clansman because he signed a bill that had great support from the people of North Dakota to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname?

From what I have gleaned from reading the political blogs and various newspaper articles around the state of North Dakota, it was kind of inferred that the Governor of North Dakota “wasn’t” all that crazy about signing this bill in the first place and might have after receiving a lot of pressure from people around North Dakota.

Lawmaker group wants attorney general's opinion on Fighting Sioux bill

But of course!!! I have a feeling that this is why the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education also voted 7-1 to direct the University of North Dakota to cease transitioning away from the Sioux nickname and logo. I bet that they knew that these lawmakers would be coming forward with this challenge. Stay tuned this summer could prove to be interesting.

BISMARCK — A group of lawmakers want Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to decide whether it's legal for the Legislature to order the University of North Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname and American Indian head logo.

The 10 lawmakers sent a letter to Stenehjem today asking for his opinion on the issue.

It was written by Grand Forks Democratic Rep. Lonny Winrich and signed by eight other Democratic lawmakers and Fargo Republican state Rep. Kathy Hawken.

The letter asks whether the bill that orders UND to keep its nickname and logo is unconstitutional, because it interferes with the Board of Higher Education's administrative power.

It also asks whether the Legislature can overturn an agreement between the NCAA and UND that resulted in the decision to drop the nickname and logo.

Jeremy Roenick tells it like it is.

Apparently these comments by Jeremy Roenick offended some that were watching the post game on Versus last night. Personally, I don't have a problem with them what-so-ever; I think that Jeremy Roenick's comments were an honest assessment of a player that he noticed not to be playing as good as he could. It is what it is; Jeremy Roenick challenged Patrick Marleau level of commitment and effort that’s all.

I mean think about this; according to Cap Geek, Patrick Marleau is paid 6.9 million dollars a year to play hockey for the San Jose Sharks. In your opinion are the San Jose Sharks getting Patrick Marleau's full potential with (2g-3a-5pts) in 11 games and has a grand total of "ZERO" points in the second round of the playoffs against the Redwings, personally in my opinion that's unacceptable for an elite player in the NHL.

I am going to break this down further. What's wrong with telling it like it is and straight talk? Jeremy Roenick is paid by Versus/NBC to give his opinion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and to break down the games that he is watching from the perspective of a former NHL hockey player. I mean seriously, what is wrong with that? Have we become so thin skinned that we can't listen to an honest critique of a particular player(s) and or of a hockey? I hope we are not going down that road to being a nation of whiny ninnies that are so afraid to listen to an honest but relevant opinion.

Higher ed board stops process to drop UND nickname bill

In case anyone is keeping track or watching this issue. Personally, I think that the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education is going to step back and plan their next move and I have a feeling that we will see them again. You can almost bet on it, I can't see them letting this go without a fight.The Fact that UND is in the transition from Division II to Division I still probably plays a factor.

BISMARCK — The North Dakota Board of Higher Education voted 5-3 today to ratify the chancellor’s recommendation to continue merchandising of Sioux nickname apparel for the 2011-12 season.

The board also voted 7-1 to direct the University of North Dakota to cease transitioning away from the Sioux nickname and logo.

Board President Jon Backes said he expects the board will discuss at its June meeting whether it’s appropriate for the board to challenge the action taken by the Legislature requiring UND to keep the Sioux nickname.

“We have a state law and that state law is presumptively valid until it is determined to be otherwise,” Backes said.

Good News for Vikings fans; Minnesota Vikings Stadium: Minneapolis Produces A Plan

This is the latest from the state of Minnesota on the Vikings stadium. Hopefully; we will get the new Vikings stadium details worked out soon so the Minnesota Vikings fans won't have to worry about hearing any more rumors about the Vikings relocating to another city.

Just days after Ramsey County announced that they were very close to a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to bring the team's proposed new stadium to the site of the old Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills and the Farmer's Market site near Target Field took themselves out of consideration, it sounds like the city of Minneapolis might want in on the action after all.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the city of Minneapolis will announce a proposal today to build a new Vikings' stadium on the site where the Metrodome currently sits, and says that the city will pick up 25% of the cost. This comes with just two weeks left in the 2011 Minnesota Legislative Session.

The Star-Tribune is reporting that the plan would use sales taxes from the city's convention center, and would also provide money for renovations to the Target Center, the home of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Pavel Datsyuk the magician...

This one is for my buddy Redwing77, this play by Pavel Datsyuk is a thing of beauty and from what I have read it sounds like that Pavel Datsyuk is playing hurt and was a game time decision because he has a injured wrist. Pavel Datsyuk is one of the best two way forwards in the NHL, if the Redwings advance to the Stanley Cup might get some love as Hart Trophy.

Joe Thornton should be ashamed of himself with this shameful dive.

h/t to Puck Daddy.. This is absolutely shameful and unbelievable, the league officials are starting to look like a joke when they let this stuff go on... Joe Thornton should be fined by the NHL for embelishment and should have been given a 10 minute misconduct for this despicable behavior. I mean seriously, are we to believe that little love tap from Johan Franzen would cause a big man like Joe Thornton to crumble to the ice like he had been shot. In looking at the video I am not sure Franzen even touched him. If I was Franzen I would be upset as well.

Dirty Hit By Sami Salo

,

I'm pretty sure that it's just not cricket to put your elbows behind a guys head and drive him into the boards.

I say this is suspension worthy considering how Salo made sure to put his entire body weight behind the hit.

Goon's Edit: Thanks to the Whistler for adding this hit. No word yet if the NHL is going to review this hit or not but I think we can assume that it's worthy of a look due to it's dangerous nature.

NHL to crack down on "divers" Canucks Diving team might be in trouble

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My buddy Redwing77 will like this article as he has been an outspoken critic of players both in college and the professional ranks that over embellish infractions and leap to the ice like they have been shot every time they are hit to draw penalties so their team can go on the power play. Personally, I have to admit that I am sick and tired of these antics as well and I am pointing the finger at the Vancouver Canucks players especially, we know who they are -> Alex Burrows. If you want to act like you’ve been shot every time you’re touched go play soccer or hockey in Europe.

Eric Francis; Calgary Sun --- Colin Campbell is tired of seeing his officials embarrassed by players throughout these NHL playoffs and isn’t going to stand for it any more.

Due to the increasing number of players diving and embellishing throughout these playoffs, Campbell and director of officiating Terry Gregson have instructed officials to crack down on players who snap their heads back to sell a call.

Teams and players have been warned to cut it out or referees will be handing out diving calls as well as “two and twos,” tagging both the victim and the perpetrator.

While diving generally increases in the post-season, what complicates the issue this year is the heightened desire to protect players from head-shots, leading players to prey on this and act as if anything coming close to their noggin makes contact, a la Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and teammate Maxim Lapierre.

This topic has kind of come to a head in round two; watching the Vancouver Canucks Hockey frauds/diving team and how they flail around on the ice every time they are hit, it’s like most of their players went to drama school and will have a career in acting after they are done playing hockey.

I don’t know if the over embellishment is a result of their General Manager Mike Gillis whining about the reffing being one sided in Chicago’s favor during round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs or not? None-the-less, the topic of diving has become a hot button issue and has generated a lot of discussion on how the Canucks players throw their heads back every time they are hit or tapped by a Predators player. Apparently, the Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa thinks that diving can cross a line. I agree…

Seriously, I think diving is poor sportsmanship and this needs to stop now in all level of hockey, if I was a head hockey coach and I saw one of my players embellish on the ice in attempt to draw a call, like I have seen on the ice this past season, that player would sitting on the end of the bench until he learned that North American players don’t play hockey like soccer players.

Is it gloom and doom for UND?

The Grand Forks Herald has an interesting series of articles on the Fighting Sioux nickname in this mornings Sunday paper, the articles focus on the impending August 15th deadline for the University of North Dakota to retire the Fighting Sioux nickname and the possible outcomes for UND not being compliant. I am going to forewarn you, there going to be a lot of articles like this from the Grand Forks Herald and other newspapers and television channels from around the area covering this story.

The first fallout?
Since UND is not eligible for NCAA postseason play in all sports but hockey for the upcoming year, the 2011-12 season is relatively manageable for the department. But there will be challenges, starting with women’s hockey.

“If women’s hockey is a top-four seed for the first-round (NCAA) playoff games next season, and they were knocking on the door this past season, they potentially would be the first team to be impacted by the inability to host a game on home ice,” Faison said.

There are other challenges as well, not directly related to the NCAA sanctions.

Recruiting in all sports could be affected as schools may use the NCAA sanctions against UND to their advantage.

Scheduling is another issue. One of the perks of the move to Division I in 2007 was the thought of scheduling Minnesota in more than just hockey.

“Minnesota did pull back on a cross country meet in the fall,” Faison said. “And we’ve been discussing future football scheduling (with Minnesota). But they’ve pulled back that discussion for now. They’re in a holding pattern. They don’t want to commit to anything until everything is sorted out here.”

And it doesn’t appear anything will be sorted out any time soon, leaving the department and its coaches to forge ahead without knowing the outcome of the controversy.

By state law, UND will be known as the Fighting Sioux. And the state Legislature won’t meet again until January of 2013. Potentially, UND could be known as the Fighting Sioux for two more seasons.

Will UND remain the Fighting Sioux forever?

“I don’t really have an answer for that,” Faison said. “I do know that it will stick around for another year.”

Bruins close out Flyers with 5-1 win; Bergeron has concussion...

I glad that I can finally say that the Boston Bruins have made the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1992. Yeah I do remember the Bruins that year. Last year the Boston Bruins had a comfortable series lead of three games to nothing and were leading in game seven 3-0 when the roof came down on top of them.

So the Boston Bruins finally exercised the demons of last season and now will move on to the Eastern Conference Finals where they will play the Tampa Bay Lightning… I think that it's safe to say that this season was different than last, there have been no four game collapses (to date) and the Bruins put their boot on the neck of the Flyers and this time they didn’t take that foot off… This year’s team seems like it has something to prove to both themselves and to the fans. I think it’s safe to say that, the Bruins have played with a chip on their shoulder all season long. I would also describe this years Bruins team as being very gusty and a hard working team and after two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs… Now we are down to two teams remaining teams in the eastern division.

Last night’s series win didn’t come without a cost as the Bruins leading scorer during the Stanley Cup Playoffs Patrice Bergeron (2g-10a-12pts) went down with an undisclosed upper body injury which today is being reported as being a concussion by Steve Silva and Kevin Paul Dupont. So Boston Bruins fans are now holding their breath that Bergeron won’t be out very long.

MPR links up MacTavish blog post...

I thought it was interesting so posted it.

4) THE NEW WILD COACH IS...?

The Star Tribune and other sports outlets are reporting that former NHL player and coach Craig MacTavish is the favorite to be the next coach of the Minnesota Wild.

That presents an immediate PR problem -- maybe -- for the Wild. MacTavish killed a woman while he was driving drunk years ago on the main drag north of Boston, where he played as a member of the Bruins. Vehicular homicide in Massachusetts carried a 20-year prison term. He got a year in a minimum security prison and his release from the Bruins to go play for somebody else.

Is that a problem? One hockey blogger -- Goon's World -- says it is:


While I am sure that some of you will say but that it was a long time ago and what's the big deal Goon, however, I ask you to look at this way, think of the victim and her family, Kim Radley would have been 53 years old today if her life hadn't have been cut short by a selfish drunk driver. I am being serious, do we really want a coach of the hometown team the Minnesota Wild to be a former felon that committed vehicle homicide? Which in my opinion was a very preventable and unnecessary death. If I am missing the point, please tell why, I also imagine that I am not the only one that feels this way.


MacTavish got his master's degree in business last year

Claude Giroux hit on Patrice Bergeron...

Here is the video to the hit that injured Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron. I don't think it was a dirty hit by the Flyers Claude Giroux, I have watched the hit about 5 times I don't see any thing that was out of the ordinary, it appears to be a legal and hard hockey check... I am hoping that Patrice Bergeron doesn't have a concussion and that he left the game as a pre-caution.

A couple UND early departures and MTU has a new coach.

Brett Bruneteau moves on

According to Brad Schlossman UND Junior Forward Brett Brueteau will be transferring to UVM of the Hockey East. Best to luck to Brett Bruneteau as he starts graduate school... Nice to see our athletes getting their graduate degrees. We wish Bruno the best in everything that he does.

UND sophomore forward Brett Bruneteau is graduating from UND after two years and will attend grad school in Vermont, where he will play hockey alongside his younger brother, Nick.

Bruneteau, an Omaha native, played in four games as a sophomore and finishes his time at UND with one goal, four assists and five points in 31 career games.

Michael Cichy to transfer to a new NCAA team - Destination unknown

One of the more puzzling moves is Junior Forward Michael Cichy is transferring to an unknown college. This is according to Jason Hajdu of the UND SID office.

Another junior-to-be, Mike Cichy, is also transferring. Destination not yet official. Best of luck to @MikeCichy!

To me this move is a bit of a "HEAD-SCRATCHER" because you would have to think that Michael Cichy is really close to playing in the line up on a regular basis and being a major contributor on the score sheet, because Cichy shown glimpses of greatness in his two short season at UND. The bad thing for Mike is that he is going to have to sit out for a whole season before he can play at his new college. We wish him the best of luck.

MTU has their coach

The Michigan Tech University Huskies now have a new head hockey coach. Below is the official release from MTU. Best of luck to former MTU Husky player and former Michigan Wolverines assistant coach Mel Pearson as he takes the next step his career.

HOUGHTON, Mich. - Michigan Tech athletic director Suzanne Sanregret has appointed former Huskies' player and assistant coach and long-time University of Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson to the position of head hockey coach. Pearson, who spent the last 23 years at Michigan helping the Wolverines to a 667-243-71 record, 11 Frozen Fours and two national championships, will be introduced at a press conference Tuesday (May 10).

"I'm very excited and grateful for this opportunity," said Pearson. "Michigan Tech was the school that gave me my first chance not only as a player but as a coach, and I'm looking forward to working with the University, alumni and community in bringing back the winning tradition."

"I'm thrilled that our search has led us to someone with the quality background of Mel," said Sanregret. "He has extensive experience in all aspects of college hockey, but his reputation as a recruiter made him our top candidate. He has contacts within all of hockey from juniors to the professional ranks, and he's well connected to our alumni."

Pearson, a former winner of the Terry Flanagan Award which honors an assistant coach's career, has been hailed as one of the best recruiters in the nation. He was credited with landing the bulk of the players on Michigan's 1996 and 1998 NCAA championship teams, and has recruited dozens of All-Americans and several Hobey Baker finalists during his time in Ann Arbor. A total of 54 Michigan players have gone on to play in the NHL since 1988.

SNY POINT BLANK TV: DAVE HAKSTOL North Dakota coach on Nelson and Gregoire

I know this is a little old and I just found it, however, UND Fighting Sioux hockey coach Dave Hakstol was on with Chris Botta on April 27th, 2011, Chris runs an independent Islanders blog that has a lot of good information on the New York Islanders.