The UNO Mavericks get some good news, Ryan Walters to return for senior year

@zigfracassi At his year end meeting this week with Coach Blais he told him and his teammates he is returning for his senior year.#frozen4
— Ken Walters (@UM86) April 26, 2013

It’s always good news when a top players announces that he’s coming back for his senior year, especially with the amount of players that bolt for the professional ranks each spring, after their college seasons are over. This week, the UNO Mavericks got some very good news, when they found out that forward Ryan Walters is going to return to the Mavericks for his senior year.

The Hobey Baker Finalist Walters, was second in scoring in the WCHA and the NCAA last season scoring (22g-30a—52pts). Walters will be the top returning scorer in the newly formed NCHC (43g-57a—100pts).

Related articles

• Goon's 2012-13 Blogger All-WCHA Awards Poll (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• My 2012-2013 All-WCHA Ballot (thehockeywriters.com)
• UND Hockey Awards (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Toronto Marlies goalie Drew MacIntyre makes a 10 bell save

Absolutely amazing 10 bell save by Toronto Marlies goalie Drew MacIntyre, the Marlies would go on to win the game 6-3 and take a 1-0 lead in their series against the Rochester Americans.

The Wild are in the Playoffs.

Playoffs! Shania goes #Wild twitter.com/JohnnaMitich/s…
— Johnna Mitich (@JohnnaMitich) April 28, 2013

They made it interesting, but they made it in! The @mnwild are PLAYOFF BOUND! twitter.com/KFAN1003/statu…
— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) April 28, 2013

Don Cherry and Coach's Corner

Tonight, Don Cherry from the Coach's Corner blew up the twitter world, when he discussed the subject of female reporters being in the dressing room. Personally, I don't have a problem with female reporters being in the dressing room after NHL hockey games, they have been there for a long time, already. I don't see what the problem is, nor should there be a problem, since the players are already dressed when they meet with the media after the game.

(Video) Mike Rupp will not be suspended by the NHL for taking run at Corey Potter

It was pretty obvious that the Edmonton Oilers were taking runs at Zach Parise during the third period of last night's game. I guess when you're a team that isn't going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you might as well try to hurt the other team's star players right. I guess your team can still have an effect on the outcome of the playoff field right?

Finally, after Corey Potter took yet another run at the Wild's Parise, Wild tough guy's Zenon Konopka and Mike Rupp had seen enough and went after the Oilers much traveled Corey Potter. Before Rupp could get at Potter, he was rescued by the linesman. According to Michael Russo, Mike Rupp will not face any additional supplemental discipline. This is a good decision by the NHL Department of Players Safety.

#NHL looked at that Mike Rupp incident last night where he tried to get at an #oilers player & linesman took brunt. No discipline. #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 27, 2013

Today's NHL Schedule

Two days left in the regular season

The Eastern teams are set, it's just a matter of who will play who. If the Minnesota Wild win their game against the Colorado Avalanche tonight, they're in playoffs. If not, their season will go down as a massive choke job, especially with who they added in the offseason. Last night's 6-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers was painful to watch.

UND Hockey Awards

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Senior center Corban Knight has been named the recipient of the Jeff Anderson Scholarship Award as the University of North Dakota’s most valuable player, highlighting the 2012-13 team awards that were announced last night.

Knight was a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist and a second-team All-American after registering career-highs in points (49), assists (33) and goals (16). His 33 assists, which tied for third nationally, made him UND’s first player to put together back-to-back 30-assist seasons since current Minnesota Wild star Zach Parise (2002-04).

Knight also earned All-WCHA Second Team honors and was named to the NCAA West Region All-Tournament Team. He led the nation with a career-high 623 faceoff wins, 120 more than any other player and second-most in UND single-season history. A two-time WCHA Offensive Player of the Week and the national player of the month in December, Knight put together a 19-game point streak that was UND’s longest in 25 years.

UND’s other team award recipients included:

Cliff "Fido" Purpur Award: Danny Kristo (Sr. || Forward || Eden Prairie, Minn.)

• Award is given to the player who exemplifies hard work, determination and being a creator of excitement on the ice
• Was a Hobey Baker Award finalist, first-team All-American and the College Hockey News Player of the Year
• Tied for second nationally with career-high 52 points and led WCHA with career-high 26 goals

Archie Krum Memorial Athletic Scholarship: Andrew MacWilliam (Sr. || Defense || Calgary, Alberta)

• Award is given to the player who demonstrates leadership qualities, high academic standards, athletic excellence
• Team captain was named to third straight Academic All-WCHA Team and was NCAA West Region All-Tournament Team selection
• Appeared in all 42 games and set career highs for points (13) and assists (11)

Tom Hoghaug Memorial Scholarship: Colten St. Clair (Fr. || Forward || Gilbert, Ariz.)

• Award is given to the freshman who demonstrates initiative, character and a sense of responsibility
• Appeared in 40 games and collected three goals and seven assists

Rookie of the Year: Rocco Grimaldi (Fr. || Forward || Rossmoor, Calif.)

• Led all WCHA rookies and ranked third nationally with 36 points in 40 games
• Led the nation’s freshmen with 147 shots on goal

Most Improved Player: Dillon Simpson (Jr. || Defense || Edmonton, Alberta)

• Appeared in all 42 games and led UND defensemen with career-high 24 points
• Also had career highs in goals (5) and assists (19)

Coaches' Unsung Hero Award: Joe Gleason (Sr. || Defense || Edina, Minn.)

• Played in 41 games and set career highs in points (18), goals (5) and assists (13)
• WCHA nominee for Derek Hines National Unsung Hero Award

Virg Foss 3-Star Award: Danny Kristo (Sr. || Forward || Eden Prairie, Minn.)

• Award is given to the player who receives the most 3-star voting points from the print media following home games
• Won award for second consecutive season
• Was a Hobey Baker Award finalist, first-team All-American and the College Hockey News Player of the Year
• Tied for second nationally with career-high 52 points and led WCHA with career-high 26 goals

North Dakota (22-13-7, 14-7-7 WCHA) qualified for the NCAA postseason tournament for the 11^th consecutive season, the longest active streak in Division I men’s hockey. UND advanced to the NCAA West Region final, where it was defeated by eventual-NCAA champion Yale

Milan Lucic works Keith Aulie

Bruins forward Milan Lucic hadn't been in a fight in 26 games and his last fight was against Matt Carkner on Jan 25, 2013. Tonight, that changed as Lucic fought Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Keith Aulie and the former Brandon Wheat King got his ass handed to him by Lucic.

According to Hockeyfights.com that is the fourth fighting major of the year for Aulie, and he is yet to win a fight this season.

Dustin Brown hit on Antoine Roussel

I found this little news tidbit on Michael Russo’s blog, obviously, we don’t see every hit or very news story, but it appears that Dustin Brown came very close to being suspended by the National Hockey Leagues Department of Player Safety earlier in the week for this questionable hit on Dallas Stars forward Antoine Roussel.

via Russo’s Rants -- Brown, who amazingly has never been suspended, does this time and time again and somehow gets away with it. In my opinion, he should have gotten suspended for what I thought was a very dirty elbow on Dallas’ Antoine Roussel two nights ago.

UND Hockey: End of season party lands five players in trouble with police

It would appear that history has repeated itself, once again for the UND hockey team. This past fall, before the season began; the UND hockey team had the team party that lead to numerous players getting cited for Possession Consumption of Alcohol by a Person under 21.

All four captains and numerous other players of the UND Hockey team, were suspended for at least one game, over the course of the opening weekend of the season. In addition, senior forward Danny Kristo sat out both games of the nonconference tourney that first weekend.

This week charges by Grand Forks County prosecutors were filed against four freshmen players cited for underage drinking, a Class B misdemeanor: Jordan Schmaltz, 18; Bryn Chyzyk, 19; Zane Gothberg, 20 and Drake Caggiula, 18. [Bismarck Tribune]

 

So, fast forward to March 31, 2013, after the 2012-13 season is over… Once again, we have UND hockey players cited for underage drinking. It would appear that two of these players didn’t learn their lesson, because they were cited earlier this season, for the same thing. 

Brad Elliot Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald – UND men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol is taking scholarship money away from players after they received citations following the season.

Three freshman players — Zane Gothberg, 20, Colten St. Clair, 20, and Bryn Chyzyk, 20 — received citations for underage drinking, while sophomore Stephane Pattyn, 22, received a noise citation.

Gothberg’s minor occurred March 31 after the team returned home from the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich. The other players received their citations over the weekend.

“This is going to cost some people significant scholarship dollars and trigger other internal actions,” Hakstol said.

According to court records, Gothberg has already pled guilty to Possession/Consumption of Alcohol by a Person under 21. Gothberg will be required to pay a 325.00 fine.

Brown, "Pominville ran into his elbow"

I am not a Dustin Brown hater by any stretch of the imagination, he's a good American players, but when you make a mistake you own up to and you move on. These comments that he made about his elbow on Jason Pominville are laughable, if not insulting.

Helene Elliott and Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times – Obviously we were disappointed in the decision, quite honest," Sutter told The Times. "Because it was exactly what Brownie says is exactly what happened. There was no intention, or leading. When you’re playing your wrong side, you protect the puck on that side of the ice. That’s what you do, you keep two hands on your stick.

"His elbow was up. Pominville ran into his elbow. Brownie wasn’t intentionally looking for somebody or looking for the players’ head. But the other side of it, it’s elbow-head contact.”

Does Dustin Brown expect us to believe that? Seriously? It's not very hard to see what your intent was, that was a chicken wing elbow, Brown meant to make contact with the head of his opponent.

Moving forward, I am glad that Brendan Shanahan and the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety had the stones to suspend Brown for this hit. I expect any player to be suspended for these kind of hits, because these are the types of hits, that the NHL is trying to eliminate from the game of hockey. Regardless of who is doing them.

Kings Brown suspended 2 games for hit on Jason Pominville

@bush1124 The NHL has no choice, they have to suspend him for this hit.
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) April 24, 2013

First off, I was right, the NHL had no choice, they had to suspend Dustin Brown for his hit on Jason Pominville. In my opinion, the hit was a text book violation of the NHL's Rule 48. Obviously, we can debate that if you want. Also, this suspension doesn't make Brown a dirty player, but he does play with an edge and he does play on the edge. It was only a matter of time before he was suspended by the NHL.

Michael Russo, Russo Rants --- Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown has been suspended the final two games of the Kings regular season, the Los Angeles Times' Lisa Dillman reported. The suspension stems from Brown's elbow to the face of Wild winger Jason Pominville in the second period last night.

Brown, who had played in 314 consecutive games, will be well-rested for the beginning of the playoffs next week. The first of those games comes tonight against Detroit, which is probably not a good thing for the Wild, which is being chased by the 9th-place Red Wings (three points back with three games left).

"I had the puck on my stick, he’s coming to hit me and I’m just bracing myself," Brown said when I asked him about the elbow last night.

The Wild didn't practice today, but official word thus far is Pominville is day to day with an upper body injury. GM Chuck Fletcher said it was too early to know yet if the Wild needs to recall a forward. If Pominville is sidelined, the Wild has no extra on the roster right now unless Mike Rupp is ready to return Friday from a knee injury. Otherwise, the Wild will have to look to the Houston farm.

BLOG: Dustin Brown suspended two games for elbow to Jason Pominville's face bit.ly/12iCZZw
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 24, 2013

This removes any doubt; Brown's dirty elbow on Pominville

Still shot of Dustin Brown's elbow that injured Jason Pominville #mnwild #lakings twitter.com/Russostrib/sta…
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 24, 2013

s/t to Michael Russo... In case anyone is confused, this was a text book hit to the head and a violation of rule 48. Jason Pominville's head is targeted by Dustin Brown.

48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was avoidable, can be considered.

Dustin Brown elbows Jason Pominville

Check out this dirty elbow by the Kings forward Dustin Brown on Minnesota Wild forward Jason Pominville, there was no call on the play and he didn't return to the game after the hit. This is unacceptable and it should be a 2-3 game suspension from the NHL, but I can tell you right now, that Department of Players Safety, led by Brendan Shanahan will not give Brown the suspension he deserves, because we are approaching the Stanley Cup playoffs. I would be very shocked if he is given the suspension that he deserves.

Elbow to Pominville's head by Brown right in front of the ref...No call...That is unreal
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 24, 2013

If Dustin Brown is playing against the #redwings tomorrow, I'd be shocked -- Which is actually not good for the #mnwild #lakings
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) April 24, 2013

Zdeno Chara scores on his own goal against the Flyers

Not a very proud moment for the Boston Bruins as defenseman Zdeno Chara scores on his own net. It was also a bad display of goaltending by Bruins goaltender Anton Khudobin. The Flyers scored two goals in seven seconds during the second period to take a 3-1 lead into the third period.

Sweet Matt Read Goal

Check out this sweet goal by former BSU Beavers and current Philadelphia Flyers forward Matt Read. That was Read's 11th goal of the season and it broke a 1-1 tie. The Flyers would score again, seven seconds later, when Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara would basically shoot the puck into his own net, to chase Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin.

(Video) Chris Neil steamrolls Simon Despres

Senators forward Chris Neil absolutely steamsrolls Penguins defenseman Simon Despres. Neil was given a charging minor on the play. So in watching this hit, did Neil catch Despres in the head with his forearm and should this have been more than a 2-minute minor penalty?

UND Recruit: Paul Ladue's goal against Sioux Falls

The Lincoln Stars and the Sioux Falls Stampede are currently tied 2-2 in their USHL quarterfinal series. Lincoln is the team that future UND defenseman Paul Ladue currently plays for, and this past season, Paul became the highest scoring defenseman in Lincoln Stars history.

In the loss on Saturday night, Paul scored the only Stars goal and they face the Stampede in a deciding game five tomorrow night in Sioux Falls. The Stampede are coached by former Fighting Sioux associate head coach Carey Eades.

You can see the Ladue goal on the video include, it's the third goal on the video at about the 1:20 mark of the video.

Penguins Thug Matt Cooke Returns to Ottawa

Tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Ottawa to play the Senators and this will be the first matchup between the Senators and Penguins since the defenseman Erik Karlsson was injured on a check by Matt Cooke. From reading some of the news articles around the web, it would appear that this is going to be one of those must watch games.

During tonight’s game, one almost has to suspect there will be some extracurricular activities as well, when the two teams meet on the ice. If Matt Cooke was smart – he’s not – he would accept the challenge to a fight. Some are going to ask, why should Cooke accept a challenge to a fight? Because the hockey code demands it and if he doesn’t, this game has the prospects of turning into a blood bath.

Matt Cooke isn’t known for being a pugilist and the last time he fought an actual middle-heavy weight fighter, was against the Bruins Shawn Thornton on March 18, 2010. Since then, Cooke has chosen to fight star players and other players not known for their fighting prowess.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was asked if thought there was going to be any shenanigans during tonight’s game, the coach replied, “I’m not aware they’re dressing Shenanigans … I don’t know what number he would be or what kind of player he would be.”