Ben Bishop's goalie mask

Sickest Tendy Masks http://t.co/bJgLGq4uRS4). Ben Bishop's Mask pic.twitter.com/58v1Qj7SIL
— Goalie Humor (@GoalieHumor) July 20, 2014

This is one sweet goalie mask.

Boston Bruins: David Krejci re-signed by the Bruins

#Czech media reports David Krejci has signed a 6 year, $43M extension with the #Bruins.
— NHL EXPERT PICKS (@NHLexpertpicks) September 3, 2014

Whew, the Boston Bruins have inked one of the key players to a nice long-term deal. Krejci signed a six-year, 43 million dollar deal. The Bruins still have to get their RFA Torey Krug re-signed.

D.J. Bean, WEEI --- According to a league source, the Bruins and David Krejci have agreed to a six-year, $43.5 million contract.

Krejci, 28, will carry a $7.25 million cap hit throughout the duration of the deal, which begins in the 2015-16 season. His salary breakdown will be $7.25 million for the first two years of the deal, $7.5 million for the next two and $7 million for the final two.

OHL Looks to Curtail Staged Fights

The OHL posted these rules on it's web site recently. The junior league is trying to curtail and cut down on the number of staged fights and head shots. Okay, that new rule sounds really good, but how does an official determine if a fight is staged or not? Except for the staged fights that take place off a faceoff, it's going to be hard determine what's a staged fight.

On-Ice Player Safety Initiatives

•The OHL will be augmenting the current staged fight rule whereby players receive an automatic game misconduct for a fight occurring immediately following the drop of the puck at the commencement of a period or game. Such rule has been expanded so as to include a fight which occurs immediately following any faceoff during the game. Should a staged fight occur, the player(s) involved shall each receive a game misconduct in addition to the major penalty and any other penalties assessed.

•If a player receives a third game misconduct during the season for a combination of any 5 minute major and game misconduct penalties for checking to the head, checking from behind, boarding, kneeing and clipping, for which suspensions have not previously been applied, he shall receive an automatic one (1) game suspension. For each subsequent game misconduct, the suspension shall be increased accordingly.

•If a player receives a third minor penalty for instigating during the season, he shall receive an automatic one (1) game suspension. For each subsequent instigating minor penalty, the suspension shall be increased accordingly.

•The number of fighting majors that a player can receive in a game before a game misconduct is assessed shall be reduced from three (3) to two (2).

•If a player receives a fourth minor penalty during the regular season in any one of the following categories, ie., checking from behind, checking to the head, kneeing, clipping or boarding, he shall receive a one (1) game suspension. For each subsequent minor penalty in any of the particular categories, the suspension shall be increased accordingly.

•Each OHL Member Team shall have a threshold of three (3) major penalties for fighting during each game. A disciplinary fine shall be assessed for each team exceeding such threshold.

Memo: College Kids Drink, 25 UMD Football Players Cited for Underage Drinking

For those that want to tar the two UND hockey players that were cited for underage drinking, maybe we should cut them some slack. Believe it or not, this is also an issue at other schools around the country. Even in scenic Duluth, Minnesota, college kids, including athletes were cited for underage drinking.
DULUTH, Minn. - About 25 University of Minnesota-Duluth football players were among 50 people cited for underage drinking at a party in Duluth’s East Hillside late Sunday.

Police were called to a large party at a house in the University of Minnesota Duluth area shortly before midnight Sunday, said Duluth Police Sgt. Jayme Carlson. Fifty people were cited for underage drinking, and the renter was cited for hosting the party where underage drinking occurred. All were cooperative with police, he said.

Bulldogs Coach Curt Wiese confirmed Monday evening that many — about 25 — of those cited were UMD football players.

“We did have quite a few of our players at a party last night,” Wiese said. “I’m extremely disappointed in their decision. We hold our players to a lot higher standard than these guys displayed last night.”

UND Hockey: Two Freshmen Cited for Underaged Drinking

The more things change, the more they stay the same. According to the Grand Forks Herald, two incoming freshmen forward Trevor Olson and backup goaltender Cameron Johnson were cited on August 23, 2014, for Possession/Consumption Of Alcohol By Person Under 21 years of age. That charge is a "B" Misdemeanor.

Checking the court records, both players will be making their initial court on September 10, 2014.  You can use this link to search for court records.

Related articles

• Three UND Hockey Players charged with Possesson of Alcohol
• Three UND Hockey Players Cited for Underage Drinking
• UND Hockey: End of season party lands five players in trouble with police

Minnesota Wild: Prospects Tournament Roster

Here's the roster for the Traverse City Prospects Tourney. You can see that the Wild have a few ex-college hockey players on the roster.

Forwards

82 Olivier Archambault 6-0 190 Left 2/16/93 Le Gardeur, Quebec Quebec QMJHL 38 19 27 46 37 INVITEE

80 Jessey Astles 6-2 205 Left 6/4/93 Coquitlam, British Columbia Tri-City WHL 50 11 9 20 67 INVITEE

62 Brady Brassart 6-2 196 Right 6/15/93 Vernon, British Columbia Calgary WHL 70 35 50 85 94 FA/14

49 Raphael Bussieres 6-1 198 Left 11/5/93 Longueuil, Quebec Iowa AHL 61 5 14 19 51 EN/12

75 Reid Duke 6-0 189 Right 1/28/96 Calgary, Alberta Lethbridge WHL 62 15 25 40 91 EN/14

53 Tyler Graovac 6-4 205 Left 4/27/93 Brampton, Ontario Iowa AHL 64 13 12 25 29 EN/11

63 Kurtis Gabriel 6-4 214 Right 4/20/93 New Market, Ontario Owen Sound OHL 60 16 35 51 99 EN/13

47 Reid Gardiner 5-11 185 Right 1/19/96 Humboldt, Saskatchewan Prince Albert WHL 70 22 22 44 39 INVITEE

57 Ryan Graham 6-2 205 Left 5/6/96 Calgary, Alberta Saskatoon WHL 70 15 8 23 37 INVITEE

81 Pavel Jenys 6-2 198 Left 4/2/96 Brno, Czech Republic Brno Czech 29 2 0 2 4 EN/14

76 Chase Lang 6-1 182 Right 9/13/96 Nanaimo, British Columbia Calgary WHL 68 10 15 25 52 EN/14

59 Zack Mitchell 6-0 184 Right 1/7/93 Caledon, Ontario Guelph OHL 67 31 52 83 40 FA/14

67 Andrew Ryan 6-3 202 Left 1/15/94 St. John’s Newfoundland Halifax QMJHL 56 27 28 55 52 INVITEE

71 Ryan Walters 6-0 190 Left 7/30/91 Rosemount, Minnesota Nebraska-Omaha NCHC 34 6 24 30 16 INVITEE

 

Defense

55 Matt Dumba 6-0 183 Right 7/25/94 Regina, Saskatchewan Minnesota NHL 13 1 1 2 2 EN/12

Portland WHL 26 8 16 24 37

73 Tanner Faith 6-3 211 Right 10/5/95 Terrace, British Columbia Kootenay WHL 10 0 1 1 9 EN/14

5 Christian Folin 6-3 210 Right 2/9/91 Gothenburg, Sweden UMass-Lowell HE 41 6 14 20 31 FA/14

34 Guillaume Gelinas 5-10 185 Left 6/14/93 Quebec City, Quebec Val d’Or QMJHL 67 23 69 92 81 FA/14

68 Alex Gudbranson 6-2 204 Right 9/3/94 Orleans, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie OHL 66 7 8 15 76 INVITEE

78 Dylan Labbe 6-2 194 Left 1/19/95 St. George, Quebec Shawinigan QMJHL 63 9 18 27 20 EN/13

23 Gustav Olofsson 6-4 191 Left 12/1/94 Boras, Sweden Colorado College NCHC 30 4 4 8 20 EN/13

79 Hunter Warner 6-2 202 Right 9/21/95 Eden Prairie, Minnesota Waterloo/Fargo USHL 50 2 10 12 127 INVITEE

 

Goalies

50 Alexandre Belanger 6-1 184 Left 8/19/95 Sherbrooke, Quebec Rouyn-Noranda QMJHL 52 28-18-3 1 3.23 .881 EN/13

31 Johan Gustafsson 6-2 202 Left 2/28/92 Koping, Sweden Iowa AHL 40 12-20-4 1 2.98 .903 EN/10

70 Brandon Whitney 6-5 208 Right 5/11/94 Kentville, Nova Scotia Victoriaville QMJHL 41 13-18-7 4 3.25 .906 INVITEE

Mike Yeo: Wild starting job in goal wide open

#462660157 / gettyimages.com

As we make our way towards the NHL season there's more hockey news starting to emerge. The Wild are going to have a stable of goalies this season. According to Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo, the position is wide open.

NHL Insider -- The Minnesota Wild will enter training camp next month with three goaltenders, Josh Harding, Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper, competing for the starting job. Wild coach Mike Yeo said each will have a chance to win the No. 1 job.

"I have to say we're kind of open right now, to be honest with you," Yeo told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune on Wednesday during an appearance at the Minnesota State Fair. "We're going to have some scrimmages … but we're going to have to pretty quickly determine who we want to give a greater workload to after that. That's going to be a good challenge."

Obviously, they Wild are going to  need to sign Darcy Kuemper who remains an unsigned restricted free agent. There's also many questions about Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding's health. Neither has been able to play a full season the last two years.

Related articles

• Trib: Leave the hockey coverage to Russo

Burton Family ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

My family did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge... I know, I know, someone is missing.

Hockey East: To Broadcast 25 Games

Hockey East announced their NBC Television Schedule today. The schedule includes six Hockey East match-ups. Notre Dame will have a 20 game schedule.

Friday, October 10 RPI at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Sunday, October 12 Minnesota at Notre Dame 3:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Friday, October 17 Lake Superior State at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, October 18 Lake Superior State at Notre Dame 6 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, October 24 Niagara at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Saturday, October 25 Niagara at Notre Dame 7 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, October 31 Vermont at Notre Dame 8 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, November 7 Boston University at Boston College 8 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, November 1 Vermont at Notre Dame 7 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Thursday, November 20 UMass Lowell at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Friday, November 21 UMass Lowell at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, November 28 Union at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Saturday, November 29 Shillelagh Tournament 7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Friday, December 5 Boston College at New Hampshire 8 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, December 6 Maine at UMass Lowell 8 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, January 3 Union at Boston University 7 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, January 9 Dartmouth at New Hampshire 7:30 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, January 10 Western Michigan at Notre Dame 6 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, January 16 Connecticut at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, January 17 Massachusetts at New Hampshire 6:30 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, January 30 New Hampshire at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBC Sports Live Extra

Saturday, January 31 New Hampshire at Notre Dame 6:30 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, February 13 Providence at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, February 14 Providence at Notre Dame 8 p.m. NBCSN

Friday, February 27 Boston College at Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. NBCSN

Saturday, February 28 Boston College at Notre Dame 6 p.m. NBCSN

AHL Hockey: Education, drug testing program implemented

I am actually surprised that they didn't have one already.

NEW YORK/SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... An education and drug testing program will be implemented for American Hockey League players, effective for the 2014-15 season, the National Hockey League and American Hockey League announced today.
The details of the AHL program, which was the result of a collaborative effort between the two leagues (NHL and AHL), the National Hockey League Players’ Association and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (which represents AHL players in collective bargaining), substantially replicate the collectively bargained policies already in place for NHL players.

The AHL drug testing program will be administered by the doctors who supervise the NHL/NHLPA Performance-Enhancing Substances Program and the Substance Abuse/Behavioral Health Program.

UND Hockey: Zane Gothberg legally changes surname to McIntyre

An interesting turn of events, UND goalie Zane Gothberg has changed his last name is now officially now Zane McIntyre. I am sure I will screw this up once or twice.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota junior goaltender Zane Gothberg announced today that he has legally changed his surname to his mother’s maiden name of McIntyre.

“My grandmother and my mother have been very influential in my life,” said McIntyre. “With the passing of my grandmother and my mother getting re-married, as well as my sister getting married, I’ve made the personal choice to carry on the family name in their honor.”

McIntyre, a sixth-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2010, went 20-10-3 last season and was a finalist for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s (NCHC) Goaltender of the Year award. He led the NCHC with a 1.99 goals against average and ranked second with a .926 save percentage. In 50 career appearances, the Thief River Falls, Minn., native is 29-14-6 with a 2.15 goals against average and a school-record .924 save percentage.

Who's the All-Time Greatest UND Fighting Sioux Hockey Player?

I am conducting a poll. All-Time Greatest UND Hockey Player... http://t.co/SiiSO0V6Nv
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) August 28, 2014

I am conducting a non-scientific poll. Who is the Greatest All-Time Fighting Sioux Hockey Player?  There's multiple ways that you can vote.

1.) Vote at Sioux Sports, there's a link provided in the embedded tweet.
2.) You can post a comment on this blog post.
3.) Tweet my your vote on twitter to  @goon48, if you own a twitter account.
4.) Finally, send me an email at thegoon48@gra.midco.net ...

Preseason Power Rankings

Well it's almost time for NHL training camps to open up again so I went through each of the 30 rosters and put together my complete power rankings based on what I thought the depth of the roster was going into the upcoming season. So, here it goes.
1. LA Kings
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Boston Bruins
4. Minnesota Wild
5. Chicago Blackhawks
6. San Jose Sharks
7. Detroit Red Wings
8. Anaheim Ducks
9. New York Rangers
10. Pittsburgh Penguins
11. Colorado Avalanche
12. Dallas Stars
13. Montreal Canadiens
14. Philadelphia Flyers
15. Tampa Bay Lightning
16. Vancouver Canucks
17. Toronto Maple Leafs
18. Washington Capitals
19. Nashville Predators
20. Columbus Blue Jackets
21. Carolina Hurricanes
22. Arizona Coyotes
23. Edmonton Oilers
24. New Jersey Devils
25. Calgary Flames
26. Ottawa Senators
27. New York Islanders (might be a little low)
28. Winnipeg Jets (again maybe a little low)
29. Buffalo Sabres
30. Florida Panthers

Now I know that everyone will think that there should be some tweaking somewhere in this power ranking, but remember, it is the preseason and it is only the opinion of me based on the current rosters. However, do remember that I predicted that the Blue Jackets would make the playoffs in September last year and almost everyone laughed at me. Just saying. I'd love to hear your opinions on the subject. Tweet me your top 5 @siouxhockey33, comment on this post, or even email me your complete 30 team power rankings at siouxhockey33@gmail.com to see where we are similar or differ in our opinions.

NHL Hockey: Four More Teams by 2017?

#451351884 / gettyimages.com

According to Chris Peters of CBS Sports, the NHL could add as many as four more teams by 2017. The more you look into this deal, the more it looks like a possibility. The NHL in Las Vegas could be a big draw.

Chris Peters, CBS Sports -- Here's why it's not completely outlandish to envision Vegas as a future NHL city. For one, they have two open spots in the Western Conference to even things out and bring some competitive balance. The Eastern Conference currently has 16 teams, while the West has 14. If the NHL expanded to the most long-rumored top candidate of Seattle, that would help even things out. It's definitely not as simple as that, though.

Another barrier for Las Vegas would have been an arena, but that may no longer be an issue. The city has been home to minor-league hockey for years, but now Vegas is in the process of building a new arena however with the aim of bringing either an NHL or NBA team to Vegas.

MGM and AEG, owner of the Los Angeles Kings, are teaming up on the project that broke ground in Las Vegas in May. The new arena is due to open in 2016 and will have 20,000 seats, but a projected capacity of 17,500 for hockey. The company building the arena, ICON, is also building the Edmonton Oilers' new arena. Kings great Luc Robitaille was on hand at the ground-breaking.

The markets listed seem like good choices. I do like adding more teams in Canada. One city that stands out is Toronto. 

NHL expansion – four teams added by 2017, Quebec City, Toronto, Seattle, and Las Vegas $1.4b in expansion fees — Howard Bloom (@SportsBizNews) August 27, 2014

NHL expanding to Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas! According to the Providence, the NHL is expanding to Las Vegas, Nevada. Place your bets. I picture an arena with one armed bandits and black jack tables in it. All jokes aside, I think it's a great move. Now, I wonder if we can get a Frozen Four there?

Tony Gallagher, The Providence -- Sources close to the situation have indicated Las Vegas is a done deal, the only thing to be determined being which owner will be entitled to proclaim that he brought the first major league sports franchise to Sin City.

And given how dead set against a team in the gambling haven the commissioner was 10 years ago, this move into another player friendly state-tax-free zone represents a considerable about-face indeed.

But people have been betting on hockey games for years and to pretend games couldn’t be fixed just as easily anywhere as in Vegas is pretty ridiculous, so that posturing has fallen by the wayside.

A new team close to the newly renamed Arizona squad and California’s big three is all but assured, the only question being when and with which other city. Or should that be plural?

With all the activity going on in the Seattle area in the last little bit it would be quite a stretch to imagine that much time and effort being spent by so many wealthy men being frittered away for nothing.

Report: #NHL expansion to Las Vegas ‘a done deal’ http://t.co/r8p1ZNDNkv pic.twitter.com/TP3zPmXwFE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 27, 2014

This Day in Hockey History

So sitting between classes looking for something to do, I decided to look up what happened on this day in hockey history, but quickly found out that not many interesting things happened on August 26th for the sport of hockey. However, here are the few things I did find in order by year:
1938- Montreal Maroons dropped from the NHL
1971- Then all time shutout leader, Terry Sawchuck, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

1980- The Stastny brothers, Peter and Anton, were signed by the Quebec Nordiques becoming the first pair of non North American players to play in the NHL. This signing was huge for the future of the NHL because if this doesn't go down, there could have possibly been no Lidstrom, no Ovechkin, no Malkin, no Datsyuk, no Sedins, and the list could just go on and on.

43 Days until the NHL season - Links...

There are 43 days until the NHL season begins.


UND football starts in two days and six - nine freshmen could end up having their red shirts pulled.


The UND football insider has the two-deep depth chart for the UND football team.


The UND Hockey team took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. To date, that's the best one that I have seen.


Apparently, the Penguins aren't in a hurry to re-sign their goalie.


Talk is starting to emerge about the NHL in Seattle.

NCAA Hockey: Six Part Must-See Non-Conference Series

Atlantic Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series http://t.co/oXAtQNjJFu
— NHLFantasyPlus (@NHLFantasyPlus) August 25, 2014

I just finished up six blog posts: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series. I am in the process of writing a 10 Must-See NCAA Hockey Series. It should come out this week. As we move towards the 2014-15 college hockey season, this has been the most uneventful off-season that I can remember. For those that are wondering, the NCHC CBSSN television schedule is going to come out sometime in the next six weeks.

Hockey East: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series - http://t.co/exzbOdnZOU #hockey #THW pic.twitter.com/ddqwDiGwCx
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) August 15, 2014

WCHA Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series - http://t.co/NFnkuFtXDE #NHL pic.twitter.com/5S7jQy2ivf
— THW Hockey (@HockeyLinks) August 13, 2014

Big Ten Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series http://t.co/PEJLOVDELc #THW
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) August 9, 2014

ECAC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series http://t.co/uZTLyjpxSn #THW
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) August 7, 2014

\

#NHL #Hockey NCHC Hockey: Five Must See Non-Conference Series http://t.co/oa1IDdmeVj
— Hockey Fan (@HockeyFanLV) July 30, 2014

NHL Hockey:Forty Four Days

Checking out the calendar, there's 44 days until the hockey season begins.

Darcy Kuemper's new goalie mask

Here's the new goalie mask that Minnesota Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper will wear for the 2014-15 season.  Now, let's hope the Wild can get the young goalie locked into a new contract.