Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Minnesota Wild: Questons at the goaltending position



The Minnesota Wild's goaltending situation has been a subject of discussion.
John Kreiser - NHL.com -- Who's the goalie? -- Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding, Darcy Kuemper, Ilya Bryzgalov and John Curry (who won his lone late-season start) all had at least one victory in a season of tumult for Minnesota goaltenders . Harding was 18-7-3 with an NHL-best 1.65 goals-against average, but he didn't play after Dec. 31 because of the effects of his battle with multiple sclerosis. Backstrom struggled all season and played a total of 22:25 after Jan. 11 before season-ending abdominal surgery. Minor-league call-up Kuemper (12-8-4, 2.43 GAA) and Bryzgalov (7-1-3, 2.12 GAA), acquired in a trade on March 4, got the Wild to the playoffs.

The question now is who fits where this season. Fletcher and coach Mike Yeo said they are content to go into training camp without a designated starter and see what happens in a competition between Backstrom, Harding and Kuemper (Bryzgalov remains a free agent).

"We have three guys who are quality goaltenders, three guys who at points in the season have been our starting goaltender and played very good hockey," Yeo told NHL.com. "We're expecting some good competition in camp."
From ESPN's Katie Strang's Chat on ESPN...
Michael (Minnesota)

If you were Chuck Fletcher, what would you do with your goalie situation? Are you tempted to sign Brodeur?

Katie Strang (1:05 PM)

If I were Chuck Fletcher I'd be extremely concerned about my goaltending situation. I know he said publicly that there will be training camp competition with Harding, Backstrom and Kuemper but I wouldn't feel too confident with that. That's why, since the trade deadline, many assumed Brodeur would be a great fit there. His sons also play at famed hockey prep school Shattuck St. Mary's in Fairbault, MN. Makes a lot of sense. But I think Brodeur is holding out for potentially an injury situation that opens a spot up.
I think if there’s one question going into the 2014-15 season, it’s the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending situation. Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding’s health issues are well documented. Darcy Kuemper has yet to sign a contract. I am not so sure that the Wild want to add Martin Brodeur to the mix.
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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Matt Greene with the Cup


Former University of North Dakota defensman Matt Greene brought the Stanley Cup back to Grand Forks, ND. There was a lot of people on hand today to see the Stanley Cup today.


As you can see from the pictures, the Stanley Cup is a very large trophy. It was a classy move by the former Fighting Sioux defenseman to bring the cup to Grand Forks.





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Monday, August 11, 2014

Minnesota Wild All Time Greatest Player



Well we all heard Eric's opinion on who the greatest player in franchise history for the Minnesota Wild is, Marian Gaborik, and that will probably be a lot of other peoples choices because of how dynamic of a goal scorer he is.

However, one has to argue for Mikko Koivu. The captain has been with the team for 601 games played, plus three playoff runs.  The captain is much deserving of this honor along with his 452 points and a +26 rating in his career, I'd say this honor goes to Mikko Koivu.
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Grand Forks Herald, NCHC Commish Fenton Working on TV Deal



It appears that that is some good news for hockey fans that are not happy with the current TV deal. Many UND and NCHC  fans aren't happy with the current television deal, either. Today, Brad Schlossman reports that  CBSSN might have moved a bit on the exclusivity clause. This would be good news to the fans that can't see the games in person. (Grand Forks Herald Article). Once the details have been worked out, I post something.
Brad Schlossman, UND Hockey Blog-- Nothing is done yet, but all indications are that CBS Sports appears willing to alter that exclusivity clause that prevented UND (and others in the league) from getting more nationally televised games last season.

How, exactly, will the exclusivity clause be altered? That’s what’s unknown at this point. Obviously, CBS will still be able to pick its games and the CBS games won’t be allowed to be on any other network. But I think there’s a good chance that when CBS is not broadcasting hockey, the games could be free to other national networks.

This would be a big step forward for the league and for fans who live elsewhere.

UND could push to get some games back on Fox College Sports. I’ve heard that St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth will likely get some games on FSN North this season, too.


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Sunday, August 10, 2014

Kevin Ward's Death: A Dirt Track Tragedy.


Like many dirt track racing fans, today we have a heavy heart for the loss of Sprint Car driver Kevin Ward Jr. Racing is a dangerous sport and none of us wants to see anyone killed on the track, ever. Ward was 20 years old. Last season, we lost Jason Leffler on a dirt track in New Jersey.

That being said, I have also read some moronic, stupid, and down right hateful things that were posted on line today. Most of these comments from from people that have no idea what a sprint car is or have clue one about the sport of dirt track racing. This is a very ugly, tragic event that will change those effected by it forever. I can't imagine what Kevin Ward's family is going through today or what Tony Stewart is feeling. I know that both families will be in my thought's and prayers.





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Ontario County Sheriff Philip C. Povero statement on Canandaigua Track Death



This is an ugly incident that will leave a scar on dirt track racing for some time to come. There's also a moral to the story, do not approach a competitors race car on an active race track. Finally, Tony Stewart will not be racing today at Watkins Glen.
The car driven by Tony Stewart collided with and killed a rival driver (Kevin Ward Jr.) Saturday night during a sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park.

Stewart and the driver, who was not identified by Ontario County Sheriffs, got into an accident during the green flag portion of the race. The driver got out of his vehicle and came down the track towards the field circling under caution. He pointed and gestured angrily at Stewart.

When Stewart drove by, the driver was hit by Stewart's rear right tire and thrown a few yards down the track. The accident happened at approximately 10:30pm. The driver was taken by ambulance to Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15pm. (Rochester Home Page Net)


Here's the link to Kevin Ward Jr's web site.

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(Updated) Fox Sports: Police investigating sprint-car incident reportedly involving Tony Stewart

While Donny Schatz was winning his eight Knoxville Nationals, his car owner was involved in a very ugly incident Canandaigua Motorsports Park. The rumor's leaking out of this incident aren't good. At this time, there's been no confirmation of the condition of Tyler Ward Jr.

Edit: according to news reports, Tyler Ward Jr. was killed by the incident in question.


Here's an article about the incident from Fox Sports.
Tom Jenson, Fox Sports -- Tyler Graves, a sprint-car racer and friend of Ward's, told Sporting News in a phone interview that he was sitting in the Turn 1 grandstands and saw everything.

"Tony pinched him into the frontstretch wall, a racing thing," Graves said. "The right rear tire went down, he spun on the exit of (Turn) 2. They threw the caution and everything was toned down. Kevin got out of his car. … He was throwing his arms up all over the place at Tony for most of the corner.

"I know Tony could see him. I know how you can see out of these cars. When Tony got close to him, he hit the throttle. When you hit a throttle on a sprint car, the car sets sideways. It set sideways, the right rear tire hit Kevin, Kevin was sucked underneath and was stuck under it for a second or two and then it threw him about 50 yards."




CBS 5 - KPHO




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Saturday, August 09, 2014

Grand Forks Herald, UND may play NDSU in football in Fargo, without return game

I would have to say that this is an interesting turn of events. I do find it odd that NDSU will schedule a home-and-home game with a Big Sky Conference foe, but not with UND. Seems kind of petty to me. Again, obviously, NDSU is a very good FCS team, but UND is already playing and beating NDSU in every other sport that they have.
Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald --- UND athletic director Brian Faison may be willing to sign a contract to renew the UND-North Dakota State football rivalry without any guarantee of a game in Grand Forks.

Faison, who previously held firm asking for a home-and-home series, indicated Friday that he would even consider playing two games in Fargo for a monetary guarantee just to get the dormant rivalry started again.

“There’s a strong sentiment from a certain part of our fan base that, whatever we have to do, let’s do it,” Faison told the Herald. “If that means one game or two games. . . at least it gets it to being started again. I’ve been working to get a home-and-home, but that doesn’t appear to be in the mix.”

The teams, who haven’t competed against each other in football since 2003, could play as soon as next season.


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Federal Judge Rules Against NCAA

English: National Collegiate Athletic Associat...
The NCAA must be spending a lot of money in court lately. They lose again. I think it's good, the NCAA has been making a lot of money off the athletes likeness and now they get some of that money.
NESN.COM -- College football and basketball players could be in line for paydays worth thousands of dollars once they leave school after a landmark ruling Friday that may change the way the NCAA does business.

A federal judge ruled that the NCAA can’t stop players from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses, striking down NCAA regulations that prohibit them from getting anything other than scholarships and the cost of attendance at schools.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California, ruled in favor of former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon and 19 others in a lawsuit that challenged the NCAA’s regulation of college athletics on antitrust grounds. The injunction she issued allows players at big schools to have money generated by television contracts put into a trust fund to pay them when they leave.
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ASU to add College Hockey?

English: Lindenwood Univ. vs Univ. of Illinois...
English: Lindenwood Univ. vs Univ. of Illinois Ice Hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a story that keeps popping up. I sometimes wonder if there will eventually be a few western team added to college hockey. I also think a natural fit would be the NCHC.
College Hockey News --- (Ray) Anderson acknowledged that Arizona State would likely have to go the route of schools like Penn State, which used a large donation to start a men's and women's program together, build a rink, and endow the programs going forward.

"If the financial support is there, you can go field teams and satisfy Title IX equity. I believe that very firmly," Anderson told the blog.

"If somebody comes up and completely wants to fund men's ice hockey, it will be our responsibility as an institution to say, let's figure a way to financially go out and gather the support so that we can satisfy the Title IX and give other opportunities to women."

Other schools, like Bowling Green and Miami, have raised funds to perpetually endow the program. Estimates are that it takes approximately $40 million to do so, with an annual operating budget of approximately $1 million. Then there's the matter of building the new rink.

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Friday, August 08, 2014

University of Minnesota seeks to bar Redskins' Nickname at Stadium



You have got to be kidding me? If I was the Washington Redskins team owner I would tell the Unversity of Minnesota to go pound sand. This is another example of political correctness run amok.
IAN SHAPIRA , Washington Post - The University of Minnesota is working with the Minnesota Vikings in an effort to keep the Washington Redskins’ name from being used in “promotional and game date materials” during the NFL teams’ Nov. 2 game at the school’s stadium in Minneapolis, according to an Aug. 1 letter from university President Eric Kaler to U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn.

It is unclear to what degree the Vikings are collaborating in this process.

Kaler was responding to a June letter from McCollum to Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf — to which the university president was copied — urging the owner to condemn the Redskins’ team name. McCollum argued that Wilf needed to take a stand against “that hateful slur” because all of the NFL teams split the sales of their licensed merchandise equally
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Thursday, August 07, 2014

Denver's Peg Bradley-Doppes on the Big Five

English: National Collegiate Athletic Associat...
University of Denver Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation Peg Bradley-Doppes had this to say about the big five conference rules. Obliviously, DU is a small school in the Summit League, but is considered a big school in division I hockey and lacrosse.
Marc Tracy, New York Times -- The new model would codify the college sports world as one “much more, perhaps, of haves and have-nots,” said Peg Bradley-Doppes, the vice chancellor for athletics at the University of Denver, which is not in a Big 5 conference. “It may make the competitive experience more challenging.”

Both supporters and detractors of the new model see the vote as pivotal, even as outside developments threaten to force more drastic reform.

“This is a game-changer,” Ms. Bradley-Doppes, of the University of Denver, said.
And I think you can see a theme starting to emerge here. If the Big Five doesn't get their way, these big schools are going to leave the NCAA. This is why N.C.A.A. President Mark Emmert is behind this move. The NCAA doesn't want to lose the big money that the big five conference schools generate.
If the board rejects the model, it could prompt a more severe break. Big 5 commissioners have suggested that in that event, they would consider much more drastic measures: departing from the N.C.A.A. and taking their teams — and the billions in revenue they produce — to a so-called Division IV.

N.C.A.A. President Mark Emmert, the former president of Washington and chancellor of Louisiana State — both Big 5 universities — has appeared to support autonomy. In 2011, he pushed for a proposal to allow Division I colleges to offer athletes additional $2,000 stipends. (The board passed the proposal, but the membership overrode it.)


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ESPN, Many Power Coaches Want Exclusive Sked

So it begins. Basically, the Big Ten, Pac-12, Big-12, ACC, SEC, and the Fighting Irish don't want to play any more football games against the FCS schools or the smaller Division I FBS schools.

What's this means, you're not going to see anymore FCS teams like Appalachian State beating Michigan in football. I also realize that APP State is not a FBS school, but they're not going to be playing the big five schools anymore, either. Frankly, this smacks of elitism. It's not like Minnesota or Indiana are very good in football. One has to wonder if this is going to filter down to College Hockey and Basketball as well?
Brett McMurphy, ESPN.com - Many of the Power Five conference coaches in college football told ESPN that they favor a schedule consisting of only Power Five opponents.

Of the 65 Power Five coaches from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Notre Dame, 46 percent (30 coaches) favored playing exclusively Power Five opponents while 35 percent (23 coaches) were opposed. About 18.5 percent (12 coaches) were undecided.

The Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC coaches favored playing all Power Five opponents, while the ACC coaches were against it by a 6-4 margin with four coaches undecided. Big Ten coaches were divided: Six each were for and against it, with two undecided.

The coaches, who were in Bristol, Connecticut, last month, were asked whether they would favor all Power Five conferences playing their respective conference schedules and then scheduling all non-conference games against other Power Five teams. Because of the tougher schedules under this hypothetical scenario, teams would not be required to reach six wins to play in a bowl.

The Pac-12, Big 12 and SEC coaches favored playing all Power Five opponents, while the ACC coaches were against it by a 6-4 margin with four coaches undecided. Big Ten coaches were divided: Six each were for and against it, with two undecided.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said "fans want" Power Five teams playing exclusively Power Five opponents.



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NCAA Board approves Division I autonomy



The NCAA just voted to give the five power conferences autonomy. I am not so sure if this is a good thing, or if this is bad for the smaller schools. I do know that there's a lot of money to be off division I college sports. For those that don't know, the big five is the SEC, ACC, Big Ten Big 12 and Pac-12 schools.
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA on Thursday approved a new governance structure for Division I that will give the five power conferences and their 65 members a level of legislative autonomy never seen before in the history of the organization.

The 16-2 vote by the Division I Board of Directors, which took place at NCAA headquarters, is subject to a 60-day veto period before the new governance structure is official. It is not expected enough schools will submit an override to put the legislation in jeopardy. The dissenting votes came from Ivy League rep and Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon and Delaware President Patrick Harker, the representative of the Colonial Athletic Conference.

"In the end, everyone recognized this was something that was very good for Division I," NCAA president Mark Emmert said. "It allows (all Division I) institutions to continue to have access to championships, to continue to share resources in the same way they always have and provides the five higher-resourced conferences with some greater latitude in areas they were concerned with. This was a wonderful development, and I'm very pleased."
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Kings vs. Av's at the Broadmoor World Arena


For those people that live in Colorado Springs you can order your tickets at this link.
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Minnesota Wild: Who's the Greatest Player in Franchise History?


That is a good question. In my opinion, it would have to probably be former Wild Marián Gáborík. Thoughts? Gabby played for the Wild for eight seasons. The Wild have been a franchise from 2000-present.
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NCAA Hockey: Must-See games

ECAC Hockey

This summer,  I have been working on a series of must-see games. So far, I have the NCHC, UND and the ECAC done. As the different schedules come out, I will post some more of these.

Looking at the East Coast Athletic Conference schedule, I previewed five must-see non-conference games. In my opinion, these are some of the more “attractive” non-conference series on the ECAC schedule. Feel free to chime in with your favorite must-see ECAC non-conference series.

The ECAC once regarded as the EZAC by other conference fans, is now the home to the last two NCAA Champions. The ECAC is quickly becoming the country’s power conference for division I college hockey. (ECAC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series).

UND Hockey

As we make our way through a very slow off-season, you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The college hockey season is just around the corner. There’s roughly 60 days until North Dakota kicks off the 2014-15 season with an exhibition game against Manitoba Bison.

Looking at the University of North Dakota’s 2014-15 schedule, here’s my five must-see hockey series. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. (UND Hockey: Five Must-See Games).

NCHC Hockey

In my humble opinion, there are five must-see non-conference series on the NCHC composite schedule. Last season, the NCHC had a mediocre non-conference record. Moving forward, these non-conference games will be very important to the final Pairwise Rankings. Having a strong non-conference record means the NCHC will get more teams in the NCAA tourney. (NCHC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series)
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Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Orange Country Register: Kings, Sharks to play outdoor game in 49ers' new stadium



As a Minnesota Wild fan, I think it's funny that California gets a second outdoor games in two seasons, while Minnesota has yet to host a stadium series or a Winter Classic. The concept of outdoor game works in Minnesota, they can actually have outdoor ice, without moving heaven and earth. To have ice in California, they have to go all kind of scientific, engineering miracles. Minnesota is covered in snow and ice about 4-6 months of the year.
Rich Hammond, Orang Country Register -- The teams will play a regular-season outdoor NHL game at Levi's Stadium, new home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m., the NHL announced Wednesday morning.

After a 2013-14 regular season that included six outdoor games, the NHL appears to be scaling back plans. Only this game, and the now-traditional early-January "Winter Classic,'' have been announced, but for a second consecutive year, the Kings have been chosen to play outside.

"This event is a tremendous example of how our game continues to grow and evolve in the state of California,'' Luc Robitaille, the Kings' president of business operations, said in a statement, "and it will bring a great deal of exposure to sports fans throughout the region.''

Levi's Stadium, located in Santa Clara with a capacity of just under 69,000 for football, was chosen over baseball's AT&T Park, which holds only 41,500. The Kings and Ducks drew more than 54,000 fans to Dodger Stadium in January for the West Coast's first-ever regular-season outdoor game.

Like the kids in California grew on the frozen ponds of San Jose or Anaheim.  Right?
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Tuesday, August 05, 2014

NDSU Tops the 2014 FCS Coaches Preseason Poll


Team (No. 1 Votes)
W-L
Points
Final Rank
1. North Dakota State (18)
15-0
636
1
2. Eastern Washington (6)
12-3
615
3
3. Southeast Louisiana (1)
11-3
542
6
4. New Hampshire
10-5
510
5
5. Montana
10-3
505
8
6. Coastal Carolina
12-3
447
7
7. Towson (1)
13-3
438
2
8. Jacksonville State
12-2
425
12
9. McNeese State
10-3
424
9
10. South Dakota State
9-5
332
14
11. Eastern Illinois
12-2
314
4
12. Fordham
12-2
305
10
13. Villanova
6-5
287
NR
14. Sam Houston State
9-5
277
13
15. Northern Iowa
7-5
263
NR
16. Chattanooga
8-4
238
25
17. Tennessee State
10-4
237
17
18. Furman
8-6
188
21
19. Montana State
7-5
170
20
20. Maine
10-3
169
11
21. Youngtown State
8-4
162
19
22. William & Mary
7-5
159
NR
23. Bethune-Cookman
10-3
136
16
24. Richmond
6-6
118
NR
25. Northern Arizona
9-3
116
15
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