Jiri Sekac Boards Nikita Zadorov

Again, these are the types of hits that should be removed from all levels of hockey. If you see numbers, you shouldn't hit the opposition. Montreal Canadiens forward Jiri Sekac is assessed a two-minute minor penalty for boarding on Buffalo Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Is that penalty punitive enough?

Mike Yeo updates Media on Zach Parise

Yeo met with media today to give an update on Parise and talk about the road trip. WATCH on WildTV: http://t.co/JAIGYjvg0H #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 5, 2014

This is not good news for the Minnesota Wild. Zach Parise is a key player in the Wild's lineup.

Updated: Zach Parise Injured - Upper Body Injury

#457967354 / gettyimages.com

The Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise is injured and not skating at the morning practice. Hopefully, he won't be out of the lineup too long. Zach is the heart and soul of the Wild. According the Minnesota Wild, Parise will not be going on the road trip.

Russo's Rants -- The Wild dropped its first home game of the season tonight to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the biggest concern after the game was the status of Zach Parise, the Wild’s leading scorer and heart and soul.

Parise didn’t emerge for the third period after sustaining what coach Mike Yeo called an upper-body injury. There were two big collisions I remember with Parise tonight. One came his first shift when he was bowled over from behind by Robert Bortuzzo. The other came 5:44 into the second when he was cross-checked the ice by Blake Comeau in the slot. Comeau received an interference penalty on the play.

So perhaps the injury stemmed from one of those two hits.

Yeo didn’t reveal the seriousness or nature of the injury postgame. He said he hoped to have a better update after practice Wednesday and said “I sure hope not” when asked if he felt it was serious. The Wild does leave after practice for a trip to Ottawa and Montreal (it’s actually a 3-game trip that also goes to Parise’s old home, New Jersey, but the Wild returns to Minnesota for a day-and-a-half after the Canadiens game), so the hope obviously is that Parise is on that charter to Canada’s capital.

Yeo: Parise not on the road trip (upper body injury). Meeting with doctors today. #MNWild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 5, 2014

RT @BlountStrib: Parise not on ice at Wild practice Wednesday morning.
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) November 5, 2014

BLOG: Zach Parise injured in #mnwild's first home loss of the season http://t.co/wDpL0crEK0
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) November 5, 2014

Nick Schmaltz Named NCHC Rookie of the Month and Honorable Mention National Rookie of the Month

Freshman forward Jack Eichel (@TerrierHockey) has been named National Rookie of the Month #HockeyEast #HEA pic.twitter.com/c1mU1ZGD8G
— Hockey East (@hockey_east) November 5, 2014

It's been a good first month for UND forward Nick Schmaltz.

NCHC October award winners: @UNO_Hockey's Massa (Player) & @UNDMHockey's N. Schmaltz (Rookie): http://t.co/JIcSuLsXgV pic.twitter.com/J5D11jrmmX
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) November 4, 2014

Minnesota Vikings: Report: No prison, $200,000 fine for Vikings' Peterson in expected plea deal

The Minnesota Viking might have received some good news. There’s a chance than their star running back Adrian Peterson could be making a return to the lineup sooner rather than later.

Reuters Media -- Probation, 80 hours community service and a $2,000 fine would be the only punishment facing Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson if a no-contest plea to misdemeanor reckless assault.

AdvertisementPeterson will appear Tuesday in a Montgomery County, Texas, courthouse where the plea is expected to be entered before Judge Kelly Case. According to ProFootballTalk.com, the plea will not include reference to family violence or violence against a minor.

If the plea deal fails, Peterson is expected to push for an expedited trial date, a goal of his defense team led by Rusty Hardin since the arraignment on charges of felony child abuse was held in the same courthouse.

Peterson maintained he was not trying to injure his 4-year-old son when he allegedly whipped the boy with a tree branch, inflicting visible wounds that surfaced before the arraignment.

Peterson was placed on the Exempt/Commissioner's Permission list in mid-September and is being paid his full salary of $11.25 million for the 2014 season.

Post-race brawl between Gordon and Keselowski

I went to a NASCAR race and a hockey game broke out... This was the story that everyone was talking about today. Even Fox News. I would imagine that NASCAR will have something to say when it's all said and done.

It would seem that trouble has a way of following Brad Keselowski around. Only two weeks ago, he was getting into a post-race altercation with Matt Kenseth. After watching this transpire, a guy might want to watch the rest of the chase, this could get good.

Jeff Owens, Sporting News -- Keselowski later emerged from the pile, bruised and spitting blood. After the fight, Gordon – with a bloody lip – didn’t mince words.

“He’s just a dips***,” Gordon said. “The way he races, I don’t know how he ever won a championship.”

This is Keselowski’s second post-race fight in four weeks. The last time it was Matt Kenseth jumping Keselowski after a race in Charlotte, with Keselowski earning a $50,000 fine for hitting Kenseth’s car on pit row and trying to wreck driver Denny Hamlin’s car after the race.

Keselowski said Sunday’s crash is all part of the race.

“We were just racing for the win,” he said. “I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s day. I wanted to win the race, and that was our opportunity.”

We had fresher tires, With a win & the championship on the line. You either take the gap, or regret it forever... pic.twitter.com/jfJJOTUEJP
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 3, 2014

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

Rk. School (1st place) Record Pts. PR
1. Minnesota (24) 5-1-0 500 1
2. North Dakota (9) 5-1-1 474 2
3. Boston College (1) 4-2-0 382 5
4. Colgate 6-2-0 378 4
5. Boston University 4-1-0 354 6
6. St. Cloud State 3-3-0 309 7
7. Massachusetts-Lowell 5-1-1 307 9
8. Union 5-3-0 262 3
9. Michigan Tech 6-0-0 230 NR
10. Providence 2-3-1 190 8
11. Miami 5-3-0 178 10
12. Denver 4-2-0 146 11
13. Minnesota State 5-3-0 80 12
14. Notre Dame 5-2-1 73 NR
15. Vermont 4-1-1 70 14

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

November 03, 2014
1. Minnesota (30)
2. North Dakota (11)
3. Boston College (1)
4. Colgate
5. Boston University
6. Mass-Lowell
7. St. Cloud State
8. Union
9. Michigan Tech (1)
10. Denver
11. Miami
12. Providence
13. Minnesota State
14. Vermont
15. Notre Dame
16. Ferris State
17. Minnesota-Duluth
18. Robert Morris
19. Nebraska-Omaha
20. Northern Michigan

UMD's Kasimir Kaskisuo makes an amazing behind-the-back save

Check out this amazing save by Minnesota-Duluth freshman goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo. For those that are wondering, Kaskisuo is a product of Espoo, Finland.

Men's Division I Hockey Inter-Conference Records: 2014-2015

So far so good. To date, the NCHC has the best non-conference record in division I college hockey. Last season, the NCHC had a mediocre out of conference record and it ended up costing the league in the end.

Edited: Traditional Circle of Sticks

Traditional circle of sticks.

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Nov 11, 2014 at 8:06pm PDT

UND vs. Air Force: Bryn Chyzyk game-winning, overtime goal

University of North Dakota junior forward Bryn Chyzyk picked a heck of a good time to get his second goal of the season. Chyzyk's game-winning goal was his second goal of the season.

From the fancy stat department: UND and Minnesota-Duluth lead the nation with five shorthanded goals each. UND has five shorthanded goals in seven games and that leads the nation in .071 shorthanded goals per game.

Related articles

• UND Blitzes Providence College 6-1(ndgoon.blogspot.com)

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• North Dakota Beats Providence in Grand Forks(insidehockey.com)

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UND vs. Air Force - Lines

UND Forward Lines

28 Stephane Pattyn (C) –27 Luke Johnson–15 Michael Parks (A)
9 Drake Caggiula–8 Nick Schmaltz–7 Wade Murphy
21 Brendan O’Donnell–13 Connor Gaarder (A) –11 Trevor Olson
29 Bryn Chyzyk–10 Johnny Simonson–14 Austin Poganski

UND Defense Pairings

6 Paul LaDue–24 Jordan Schmaltz
20 Gage Ausmus–2 Troy Stecher
5 Nick Mattson–3 Tucker Poolman

UND Goalies

31 Zane McIntyre
33 Cam Johnson
30 Matt Hrynkiw

Not in the Lineup: 15 – Mark MacMillan (wirst), 4 – Keaton Thompson, 17 – Colten St. Clair, 22 – Andrew Panzarella, 26 – Coltyn Sanderson

Air Forc Forward lines

19 Scott Holm–17 Chad Demers (A) –22 Cole Gunner (A)
7 Matthew Meier–26 Ben Carey–18 George Michalke III (C)
8 Max Hartner–13 Tyler Ledford–24 A.J. Reid
20 Will Vosejpka–14 Ben Kucera–27 Erik Baskin

Air Force Defense Pairings

3 Johnny Hrabovsky–11 Dan Weissenhofer (C)
4 Phil Boje–52 Jonathan Kopacka
2 Kyle Mackey–55 Mike McDonald

Air Force Goalies

30 Chris Truehl
31 Connor Girard
41 Austin Priebe

Grand Forks Herald: Nickname task force further develops open forums

More details are starting to emerge from the UND Nickname and Logo Task Force. I like many, received an email asking me if I would like to attend one of these four-hour forms.

Anna Burleson, Grand Forks Herald -- The UND Nickname and Logo Task Force fleshed out a few more details for upcoming community forums at a meeting Friday.

The group plans to address those who still hold on to UND’s former Fighting Sioux logo and mascot, which was officially retired in late 2012 after the NCAA deemed it offensive.

“The tagline around here is ‘Fighting Sioux forever,’ and a lot of people still maintain that passion and feeling and there is no way you’re ever going to change their mind that it has to change,” task force and UND faculty member Sue Jeno said. “We need to respect it and honor it, but we don’t need to inflame it.”

The four-hour forums will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, and 5 p.m. on Nov. 7 at the Howard Johnson. They are open to the public and attendees outside of the 90 stakeholders specifically invited to each meeting will have an opportunity to leave their comments and suggestions as well.

After a brief welcoming session, each table of people will have a task force facilitator guide three 20-minute brainstorming sessions, with attendees switching tables for each session.

Florida Panthers Recall F Rocco Grimaldi

Former Fighting Sioux forward Rocco Grimaldi has been recalled by the Florida Panthers.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Florida Panthers Executive Vice-President and General Manager Dale Tallon announced today that the club has recalled F Rocco Grimaldi and F Vincent Trocheck. In addition, the club announced that F Dave Bolland has been placed on injured reserved retroactive to October 17, 2014 and F Brandon Pirri has been placed on injured reserved retroactive to October 30, 2014.

Grimaldi, 21, has appeared in eight games with San Antonio (AHL) this season, recording three goals with one assist and four penalty minutes, after signing his entry level contract with Florida this past summer. Prior to playing in San Antonio, Grimaldi spent three years (2011-2014) at the University of North Dakota (NCHC) recording 31 goals and 46 assists. Grimaldi was drafted by Florida in the second round (33rd overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft.

Russo: NHL watching, but Thomas Vanek's agent reiterates client is in no criminal trouble

Interesting... It appears that Thomas Vanek spent over 1 million dollars on football betting.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune --- While the National Hockey League said Friday it will continue to keep an eye on a federal illegal gambling and money laundering case in Rochester, N.Y., that Thomas Vanek has testified in as the government’s prime witness, the Wild forward likely won’t face league discipline unless he faces criminal charges or bet on hockey.

Vanek’s agent, Steve Bartlett, told the Star Tribune Friday that “Thomas is not in any way, shape or form involved in any illegal activities or in trouble here.”

Vanek bet on football and was paying off a gambling debt, according to Bartlett.

Vanek’s in the news again because a defense attorney for a man who pleaded guilty to illegal gambling and conspiracy to launder money Thursday alluded to the fact that the check his client helped launder came from Vanek while he played for the New York Islanders.

In an interview with WHEC-TV’s Berkeley Brean in Rochester, N.Y., lawyer Jim Wolford, who represents Mark Ruff, said the $230,000 “check that was identified as far as the money laundering was a New York Islander check.”

Air Force Goalie Chris Truehl makes a great save against RIT

Here's something for the scouting report. Saturday night, UND plays the Air Force Academy in a non-conference matchup. This is a great save by Falcons goalie Chris Truehl (2-4-0, 3.36 GAA, .881 SV%).

Related articles

• Zane McIntyre snubbed by USCHO

Torey Krug Injured after Slash from Zach Parise (Video)

Yesterday it was announced that Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug will be out for 2-3 weeks with a broken finger. Now we know how Krug broke his finger, watch the slash from Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise.

Drew Miller's Disallowed Goal, Luke Glendening Goalie Interference

From the blown call department. Here's the video of Detroit Red Wings forward Drew Miller's disallowed Goal. If you look closely you will see that Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby trips all by himself. Red Wings forward  Luke Glendening was given a two-minute penalty for goalie interference.

Should Minnesota be 8-0-0 Right Now?

#457967436 / gettyimages.com

The Minnesota Wild have had a dominating play style in each of their first eight games of the season, but little errors have not allowed them to win games that they probably should have won. The power play alone could be the biggest factor in all of this.

As of last night, only Buffalo and the Wild were the only two teams in the NHL without a power play goal in this young season, however, it is not for the lack of trying in the case of Minnesota. They are among the top in the NHL in power play shot attempts, but just have not been able to find the twine as of yet. A team will average three to four power plays a game, and the good power plays will usually score one out of every five power play opportunities. The Wild have all the tools in place to be considered a power play elite, but their current power play misfortunes are costing them games.

Lets look at Monday night's game at Madison Square Garden. The Wild went 0-4 on the power play, including two five minute major opportunities. If the Wild score on one of these, this game is sent at least to overtime and they earn a valuable point in the standings. That being said, I am not trying to make excuses for the epic third period collapse, just trying to say if the shoot first power play was finding the net on one in five chances, they very well could be 8-0-0 right now.

The season is long and I am sure once one goes in, they will gain their confidence back and pucks will start going in with the extra man. Who knows, maybe two birds will be killed with one stone if Thomas Vanek is able to score the first power play goal for Minnesota.