Goon's World

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

UND Fighting Sioux Hockey announces 2012-13 incoming class

Official Press Release

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota Head Men’s Hockey Coach Dave Hakstol announced today the addition of six newcomers for the 2012-13 season. The incoming class includes National Letter of Intent signees Drake Caggiula, Bryn Chyzyk, Zane Gothberg, Coltyn Sanderson and Jordan Schmaltz, as well as Alabama-Huntsville transfer Clarke Saunders. The position breakdown includes three forwards, two goalies and one defensemen.

“This incoming class of young men will bring solid skill packages into our program at the forward, defense, and goaltending positions for the 2012-13 season,” said Hakstol. “Adding this group to an extremely solid core of returning veterans creates a roster with ability and depth at all three positions.”

National Letter of Intent Signees:

Name: Drake Caggiula Ht: 5-10 Wt: 161 Pos: F Hometown: Pickering, Ontario

Spent the past two seasons with the Stouffville Spirit of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) … Scored 10 goals and 24 assists 25 in games in 2011-12 … Led Stouffville to OJHL regular season and playoff titles and a berth in the Dudley Hewitt Central Canada Junior A Championship final … Was named most valuable player of the OJHL playoffs after racking up a league-leading 17 goals and 37 points in 23 games … Named OJHL 1st Team All-Prospect for the second straight season … Won a silver medal playing for Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge … Began the season with Des Moines of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and had one goal and one assist in four games … Played in 48 games with Stouffville in 2010-11 and collected 22 goals and 23 assists … Added two goals and six assists in eight playoff games … Draft eligible in 2012 … Ranked 185^th among North American skaters in the final 2012 NHL Central Scouting Bureau draft rankings … Last name is pronounced Ka-ZHEW-la.

Name: Bryn Chyzyk Ht: 5-11 Wt: 181 Pos: F Hometown: Virden, Manitoba

Spent the 2011-12 season with the Fargo Force of the USHL … Collected 28 goals and 21 assists in 57 games … Tied for the team lead in goals and tied for eighth in the USHL goal-scoring race … Was a teammate of fellow UND recruit Zane Gothberg … Spent the 2010-11 season with the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) and was named the league’s rookie of the year … Scored 22 goals and 49 assists in 62 games and earned MJHL All-Rookie Team honors … Played in the 2011 MJHL All-Star Game and notched three assists … Added a goal and six assists in 13 playoff games … Last name is pronounced CHIZ-ick.

Name: Zane Gothberg Ht: 6-2 Wt: 190 Pos: G Hometown: Thief River Falls, Minn.

Spent the past two seasons with the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League (USHL) … Named co-recipient of USHL’s 2011-12 Goaltender of the Year award … Went 26-14-4 and led the USHL in save percentage (.921) and shutouts (7), while ranking second in goals against average (2.22) … Set franchise records in all four categories and was named Fargo’s Most Valuable Player … Was a teammate of fellow UND recruit Bryn Chyzyk … Went 14-8-0 with a 2.23 goals against average and a .908 save percentage, along with two shutouts, in 2010-11 … Won a bronze medal with the United States at the 2011 World Junior A Challenge, posting a 0.50 GAA and .979 SV% in two games … Won gold with the U.S. at the 2010 World Junior A Challenge, recording a 2.05 GAA and .929 SV% in four games … Spent the 2009-10 season with Thief River Falls High School and won the Frank Brimsek Award as the top senior goaltender in the state of Minnesota … Also earned first-team all-state honors after posting a 1.81 GAA, .925 SV% and three shutouts in 27 games … Was an all-state honorable mention as a junior … Selected by the Boston Bruins in the sixth round (165^th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Name: Coltyn Sanderson Ht: 6-1 Wt: 185 Pos: F Hometown: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Spent the past two seasons with the Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) … Served as team captain in 2011-12 and amassed 81 points (32 goals, 49 assists) in 57 games … Finished fourth in the SJHL scoring race … Added nine goals and nine assists in 17 playoff games and led Weyburn to the Sherwood Conference championship … Weyburn’s nominee for SJHL Player of the Year … Received four team honors: Barber Motors Award (Most Valuable Forward), NSWB Community Service Award, Marcel Labelle Memorial Award (Red Wing Displaying Dedication) and the President’s Ring … Played in 57 games in 2010-11 and had 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points … Spent the 2009-10 season with the Assiniboia Southern Rebels of the Prairie Junior Hockey League and collected 35 points (19 goals, 16 assists) in 37 games.

Name: Jordan Schmaltz Ht: 6-2 Wt: 175 Pos: D Hometown: Verona, Wis.

Tied for second among USHL defensemen in 2011-12 with 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists) in 55 games … Spent the majority of the season with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, collecting seven goals and 28 assists in 46 games … Led the Gamblers to the USHL’s Anderson Cup with a 47-9-4 record … Added two goals and five assists in 11 playoff games … Began the season with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, where he scored three goals and three assists in nine games … Participated in the 2012 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game … Spent the 2010-11 season with Sioux City and led USHL defensemen in points (44), goals (11) and assists (31) in 53 games … Earned USHL First All-Star Team and USHL All-Rookie Team honors … Was a five-time USHL Defenseman of the Week as a rookie … Won a bronze medal with the United States at the 2011 World Junior A Challenge … Won gold with the U.S. at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge … Draft eligible in 2012 … Ranked 34^th among North American skaters in the final 2012 NHL Central Scouting Bureau draft rankings … Father, Mike, lettered in football at UND from 1988 to 1990 … Uncles, Marc Schmaltz (1988-91) and Monte Schmaltz (1992-93), also lettered in football at UND.

Transfer:

Name: Clarke Saunders Ht: 6-3 Wt: 200 Pos: G Hometown: Brockville, Ontario

Spent the previous two seasons at the University of Alabama-Huntsville … Posted a .903 save percentage in 46 career games for a UAH team that went 6-54-3 over the past two years … Appeared in 27 games (26 starts) in 2011-12 and averaged an NCAA-leading 34 saves per game … Posted a .906 save percentage for a UAH team that went 2-28-1 … Appeared in 19 games as a freshman in 2010-11 and went 4-14-0 with a 3.80 goals against average and an .898 save percentage … Spent the previous four seasons with the Brockville Braves of the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) … Set a Brockville team record for wins in two of his last three seasons with the club … Went 31-7-1 with a 2.31 GAA and .915 SV% in 2009-10, ranking second in the CCHL in wins and GAA.

The Fighting Sioux (26-13-3, 16-11-1 WCHA) won their league-record third straight Broadmoor Trophy as WCHA Final Five champions and earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA West Region Tournament, where UND advanced to its sixth regional championship game in eight years under Hakstol.

Mikael Granlund is now part of the Wild

Michael Russo of the Star Tribune was on KFAN with Paul Allen last week talking about the Wild signing Mikael Granlaund. Russo informed Allen that as soon as the World Championship was over, the Minnesota Wild would sign the young star. That wait is now over and the Wild now have their top prospect signed up and ready to go.

Keith Yandle's puzzling comments

I had to post this video because I couldn't believe my ears the first time I heard it, this is down right silly. The comments by Keith Yandle are almost black helicopter conspiracy theory stuff - you can't make it up - it's right here. You can almost imagine secret agents repelling out of a small black helicopter onto the ground in Yandles backyard.

Wow! Wait, What? I mean talk about being classy in the post game comments, the Phoenix Coyotes lost the game and the series against the Kings because they were a step late to the puck all series long, the Coyotes had no answer for the Los Angeles Kings speed trough the neutral zone. One of the strong points that I saw for the Kings was the way they played a high pressure game, the Kings' fore-check was relentless they were all over the Coyotes every game.

The Coyotes sound like a bunch of whiners

I will be the first one to admit that I hate it when my favorite team loses - that's sports - that's the way the puck bounces sometimes. Last night, the Phoenix Coyotes would have been better off to congratulate the Los Angeles Kings and move on. Instead, the Coyotes failed to take the high road and used their post game press conference/interviews as an opportunity to sound off and blame the officials for the results of their series. In my opinion, the Coyotes came off last night as a bunch of entitlement whiners. I think their post game comments other wise taint an amazing season by the Coyotes.

The State of the NHL Officiating Corps.

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have to be the guy to agree with a lot of what has been said regarding officiating but I also am going to be the guy to pose a theory to the masses for public consumption.

And, yeah, it is going to sound a lot like an apology for Brenden Shanahan but it isn't.

Brenden Shanahan is in a position no one wants to have but everyone has an opinion of what should be done by a person in such a position. However, he's not done a good job or even an ok job with the position. He has been inconsistent and unsatisfying in his performance. It's just presented all glitzy with videos and bulleted lists. But looking at it from afar, there's a lot that doesn't add up.

Look at the inconsistency and the double standards of Shanahan's actions doesn't appear to me that the decisions regarding whether or not to suspend players was actually being made by Shanahan. His actions this year seemed almost identical to that of Colin Campbell's Wheel of Justice system. There were a few times during Campbell's administration of this position and during Shanahan's administration where they went against the trend (such as suspending Ovechkin and perhaps you can argue that it was the case for Giroux and Backstrom but I'll get to that shortly) but that may only be to prevent appearance to the players that they are playing favors.

Add onto the fact that no matter what, when a fanbase sees their guys suspended for a hit they get mad and point out flaws in previous decisions and also when a fanbase sees their guys get hit and even injured they point to it as justification for the hitting player to get pummeled with the book.

It becomes a mess.

So where does Shanahan come in? He comes in having never served in such a level of authority. He only comes in as a face. People know who he is. That's about it. So, when thrust into the limelight like this you have to sink or swim. And here's where it gets interesting:

Can you improve the quality of a weakness when the primary weakness are the people above you on the chain of command?

Can Shanahan even suspend players like Malkin even if he wants to? There is no secret that Bettman and Campbell's love children are Malkin, Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (to a certain extent). Bettman has certain placed the emphasis on the PR marking campaign on the shoulders of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin by extension. So would it do for the NHL to see either suspended? I'm sure not. So, I doubt Campbell would allow Shanahan to suspend either player (even though Crosby really has yet to administer an illegal or even questionable hit).

As for Giroux and Backstrom being exceptions, I argue not so much. I truly don't think that anyone other than Malkin and Crosby are truly exempt from suspension if the situation is right.

But in the end, all it comes down to is Shanahan's bosses. They truly do seem to be calling the shots and simply use Shanahan's player profile to deflect all the criticism away from Campbell and onto Shanahan. Therefore, if it does fail (which it appears that it is so) Bettman can step forward and say "Look, we listened to you and we tried your idea and it failed. Campbell knows what he's doing and we're just going to go back to the old way and try to hammer out some of the troubles through traditional channels." Bettman still doesn't look bad that way and the only harm done is Shanahan's image being obliterated. Shanahan never was a Crosby type so why would Bettman care.

If this season was a first run test and next year is the real test for Shanahan, I'm betting he fails again because I don't think Shanahan truly has the autonomy necessary for Shanahan to live up to what he talks about. He can suspend anyone with impunity (provided the situation and circumstances warrant it).

I claim that Shanahan is nothing more than lipstick on a pig when it comes to the NHL Front Office. It looks nice and he tries hard but in the end, you're not going to improve on officiating and Shanahan's job description with the likes of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell still in positions of power.

What says you?

Can Mike Smith be fined for his post game comments?

After listening to Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith's post game comments the first thing that came to mind was, the NHL could levy a fine against Smith for his post game comments about the officials.

I will be the first one to admit that the NHL on ice officiating has been really poor during this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, but everyone has has had to play through it. In this series, the Kings were the better team, the Coyotes had no answer for the Kings speed through the neutral zone. The Kings also played a high pressure game and gave the Coyotes little in the way of offensive chances maybe Smith should give credit where credit is due. There is a time to just say congrats to the other team and move on with your life and not look like a whiner.

You can listen to the audio of the post game interview, you will hear that Smith was highly critical of the on ice officials in this game and series. I always said, win with class and you lose with class as well.

"It's even more disappointing," Smith said. Not only did we get beat by them [Kings]... "We got beat by the officials too."

[click to listen to his post game comments]

Dustin Brown hit on Michal Rozsival

I think this is the next hit that will probably get a look from the NHL Department of Player Safety. This hit has also generated a lot of discussion on twitter at the end of the game.

I also expect, L.A. Kings forward Dustin Brown will get a call from the Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan. Whether that hit deserves a suspension is another thing.

I do believe that the NHL has to review this hit, even though there was no penalty called on the play. I think that Michal Rozsival who had been diving and flailing around on the ice minutes before when he was tapped by a Kings players stick, probably led to there being no call on the play. If you cry wolf enough times who is going to believe you when you really get hurt, right?

If you look at second angle of the hit, it looks worse than the first clip that you saw at game speed. I also think that Jess Myers has a point with his tweet below.

Just for the record I would not want to be in Brendan Shanahan's shoes, I don't think it's an admirable position, not after this post season.

One person pinged me this to me on twitter - he doubts that Shanahan has the stones to suspend the Kings Captain for game 1. I guess we will find out - does Shanahan have the stones - he has proven already that he has the balls to suspended two superstars players in Claude Giroux and Nicklas Backstrom during the earlier rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. These actions leads me to believe that he might have the stones to do so. I wouldn't want to be in Brown's shoes right now.

Either way I really don't care, do you think that this hit deserves a suspension, fine or nothing at all. Personally, I just hope the Devils and Rangers series can fill the void until next Wednesday when the Stanley Cup Finals start.

Former Phoenix Coyotes tough guy seems to think that Dustin Brown will be suspended for his hit on Michal Rozsival and this is what he tweeted tonight.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

German goalie Named Patrick Fücker - No Really there is

This was a funny story that I found on line and I thought I would pass it along - can you imagine if this guy or someone with a funny name like this guy actually made the NHL or AHL.

I would love to see this happen, because it would be funny listening to the play-by-play folks have a good time with his last name. Can you imagine some of the story lines this guy's name would inspire... Well I guess we can only dream right?

Here is a link to Patrick Fücker's profile, you can see that he is an active player in Germany.

Glenn Davis, Sports Grind Daily --- We’re sure Patrick Fücker is a humble guy just trying to make his way. The 19-year-old has been a competitive hockey player in Germany for years now, working his way through the nation’s junior ranks and last month moving to the Rostock Piranhas, who play in Germany’s third-highest league. Just a guy who apparently loves the Rangers and trying to play the game he loves for a living.

But he’s more than that. He had to be more than that. Because his name is out on the internet. And his last name is Fücker. Someone was going to find it eventually, and they were going to love it, and they were going to send it to Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski, and he was going to love it. Who wouldn’t love a name like this, except Patrick Fücker himself, when he’s around English-speakers? We encounter names we love all the time, but this may be the best of them.

And that’s why we have to hope against hope that Fücker one day makes it to the NHL. Granted, the third-best league in Germany is a long, long way from there (and these last couple GAAs look pretty high), but can you imagine the clusterFück that would ensue each time Fücker’s name had to be mentioned? The stifled giggles? The uncomfortable announcers?

Remaking Burrows' image

Last season a major American Newspaper from Pittsburgh wrote a newspaper article that tried to remake Matt Cooke's tattered image after the Penguins bad boy was suspended by the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety for the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I guess we could say this article some similar to that one. This article by the Vancouver Providence wants us to look at one of the players in a different light.

Enter Alex Burrows, while me might be a "great" hockey player statically; his unsportsmanlike on ice antics makes him one of the most unlikable players/characters in the NHL. Burrows also happens to be a team member on one of the most unlikable teams in the NHL, the Canucks are the poster boys of poor sportsmanship. As we have seen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that last few years, the Vancouver Canucks are a team full of driving frauds and cry babies that are as light on their skates as any team in the NHL. Everytime someone touches one of the Canucks they throw their heads back like they have been shot.

The Providence --- Burrows has done himself no favours in the past. He is not known as a hockey player but as a finger-biting, hair-pulling, head-snapping diver who gets to play the role of fire-hydrant, standing in front of the net while the Sedins bank shots in off him.

It’s a shame because Burrows is a hell of a hockey player.

Consider that he’s averaged 30 goals a season over the past four campaigns.

But then add to the consideration the fact he gets next to no power-play time.

When it comes to even-strength goals, he had 23 this season – more than Rick Nash, more than Matt Moulson.

Burrows is the poster boy for everything that is wrong with the Vancouver Canucks, first he comes off as clownish character and an unlikable buffoon that I can only imagine that an opposing player would rather pound into the boards or cross check in the mouth, rather than to have to watch their on ice antics. This past post season the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks Alain Vigneaul had to tell Canucks forwards Alex Burrows and Max LaPierre to shut their mouths.

Burrows biting of Patrice Bergeron during the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals was an atrocious and unpunished childish act that should have resulted in Burrows being give a suspension.

If I was a general manager in the NHL I would take a pass on this clown, I don't care how many goals that he scores - while Burrows has a serious upside offensively - he is also a poor sport and a distraction to the rest of the Vancouver Canucks and there are a lot of other unlikable characters on that team. If I was the GM of the Vancouver Canucks I would try to package a deal that includes Alex burrows and Max Lapierre to any Eastern Conference team that would take these two clowns. Losing those two players would help save the image of that once great franchise.

Fighting Sioux own the night in Devils win

NBCSN ice level announcer/personality Pierre McGuire couldn't seem to say it enough as he kept mentioning the two outstanding players from Grand Forks, ND. While Zach Parise (2002-04) and Travis Zajac (2004-06) are former Fighting Sioux Hockey players - they never played hockey together during their time at UND. Parise left UND in 2004 after playing two season for the Fighting Sioux. Shortly there after, Zajac arrived at UND in the fall of 2004 and played two season for the Fighting Sioux as well before joining Parise in New Jersey.

That historical fact doesn't seem to matter as both players seem to have a good chemistry on the ice together as the two former Fighting Sioux forwards frustrated the New York Rangers and led the way for the New Jersey Devils beating them 4-1, Parise was named the game first star and (2g-1a—3pts).

The empty net goal by Parise at end of the game was a thing of beauty as well as the puck appeared to have a bit of English on it and curved into the net to ice the New York Rangers.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Mike Rupp and the New York Rangers come unglued

Mark it down as being a rough and tumble hockey game between two teams that really don't like each other at all. In the end the Rangers kind of lost it and acted like a bunch of spoiled babies at the end of the game.

For his efforts, New York Rangers forward Mike Rupp was given a 10 minutes misconduct and a double minor (4 minutes) for roughing. I don't know, If I was Rupp, I might think twice of trying to rattle Marty Brodeur's cage, your just looking for some extra lumber to the back of the legs. It's obvious that the Rangers are sending a message but the fact remains that the Devils really didn't take the bait from the Rangers.

Personally, I think that the Mike Rupp hit behind the net on Devils Defenseman Peter Harold was questionable even a border line and unnecessary check, Rupp left his feet and led with his hands as well, lucky for Peter Harold that Rupp didn't catch all of him.

It should be an exciting game in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night as the series is now tied again. During game the Devils play disciplined hockey for the most part.

Here are the penalty minutes from the boxscore
06:18 NYR Mike Rupp : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min
06:18 NYR Mike Rupp served by Michael Del Zotto : Roughing - 2 min
06:18 NYR Stu Bickel : Roughing - 2 min
06:18 NJD Ryan Carter : Roughing - 2 min 06:18
NYR Mike Rupp served by Michael Del Zotto : Roughing - 2 min
06:18 NYR Stu Bickel : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min
06:18 NJD Ryan Carter : Misconduct (10 min) - 0 min

Frattin Scores two as Marlies win

Former Fighting Sioux All-American forward Matt Frattin has been in beast mode during the Toronto Marlies run through the Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Barons. In today's game, Frattin scored his seventh and eighth goal of the Calder Cup Playoffs that leads the AHL.

Frattin's second goal of the game was the game winning goal for the Marlies and I would classify that goal as a thing of beauty - your classic toe drag goal that was shot from the top of the face-off circles that blew by the Barons goalie Yann Danis.

Former Fighting Sioux forward Chris VandeVelde has a goal in the losing effort for the Oklahoma City Barons, VandeVelde now has five goals during the Calder Cup playoffs.

Shane Doan's second goal

Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan scored two big goals to help the Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 2-0 to extend the Western Conference Finals series between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Los Angeles Kings. With the victory last night by the Coyotes in Los Angeles, game five is tomorrow night at 8:00 PM Central in Glendale, Arizona, at Jobing.com Arena.

Zach Parise hit on Michael Del Zotto

This is the hit by New Jersey Devils forward Zach Parise on New York Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto that the Rangers head coach John Tortorella took issue with - the video is not very good and the hit in question would be the hit in the left corner at the 7-8 second mark of the video.

It would appear from all of the talk between game three and four, that this series is beginning to heat up and get even more nastier, if that is even possible, the two teams started a game off back in March 19th, 2012 by dropping the gloves on the opening face off and having an old fashion Donny Brook.

Ranger fans will be happy to know that the slow footed Ranger defenseman Stu Bickel will be in for Brandon Prust who is sitting out the game on suspension tonight.

My final question is: does the Rangers head coach John Tortorella have a case? Was the hit by Parise's on Del Zotto in the corner a dirty that hit? Is this hit worthy of Parise sitting out a one game suspension?

Larry Brooks, New York Post --- “You can sense the hatred building from the last game, especially with some of the big hits,” Michael Del Zotto told The Post after coming off the ice from yesterday’s optional skate at the Garden. “It feels like there’s something building.”

There were three incidents involving hits to the head in Saturday’s Game 3, but only one gained notice enough to be reviewed by the NHL after it had been replayed multiple times on the NBC telecast of the Rangers’ 3-0 victory. That was Prust’s elbow.

That was followed by Saturday’s post-game press conference in which Devils coach Pete DeBoer matter-of-factly labeled the incident, “Headhunting, plain and simple.”

What was plain and simple is the unpenalized Prust elbow at 2:38 of the second period came between the unpenalized Dainius Zubrus right elbow to Anton Stralman’s face that drew blood at 8:00 of the first period and the unpenalized leap from behind by Zach Parise onto Michael Del Zotto’s head when the Blueshirts defenseman was in pursuit of the puck with 6:22 remaining in the third period.

Henrik Lundquist stuffs Ilya Kovalchuk

New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been nothing short of amazing during the Stanley Cup Playoffs and this was no different this past Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.

Check out this amazing save by the All-World goalie Henrik Lundqvist as he stopped a Ilya Kovalchuk breakaway attempt with the game score still tied at 0-0. It's saves like this on on Kovy that helps make Lundquist's case for why he deserves the Hart Trophy.

I also think that Henrik Lunquist could be in the running along with Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

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