First Impressions

Well Sioux hockey is officially among us (the beauty of being an independent blogger is that I can still refer to them in a hostile and abusive manner)!  As always, the exhibition game was sloppy.  The NCAA only allows one official practice before the exhibition, so that is to be expected.  However, it's still fun to see what the freshmen bring to the table as well as which returners took a step forward over the offseason.  These are my first impressions for the season ahead of us.

The Old:

- Parks looks great!  After a solid freshman campaign, he struggled with injuries and consistency last year.  He looks stronger, faster and ready to make some noise this year.  He completely owned the boards as usual, but he also drove the net hard (which resulted in a goal on one play). 

-Grimaldi looked even faster than a year ago.  I know Manitoba isn't the quickest team, but it seriously looks like everybody is standing still when he gets going.  He needs to shoot more instead of always looking for the pretty pass, but that will come.  In the shootout he showed his crazy skill with a beauty move.

-Cagguila looks like he had a good offseason.  He looks stronger and much more confident with the puck.  He had a goal (with huge credit to Mark MacMillan for the slick set-up) and could have had another.  Look for him to take a big step forward this year

Chyzyk - Looks like a guy that wants to stay in the line-up this season.  He has gained a step or two from last season.  He didn't generate a lot of offense this game, but showed he is capable of it if put in that type of a role.

Defense:  Simpson looked solid as expected.  Schmaltz looks like he took the necessary steps in the offseason and looks to be a big-time D for us this year.  Mattson had some flashes, but still looked a bit shaky.  He could be fighting for a spot this season if the freshman adjust quickly.

Goalies:  Both looked solid.  Gothberg was tested more with a few more shots and getting to participate in the shootout, but both looked capable.

The New:

- Johnson is a STUD...he looked like a veteran from the get-go.  He wins face-offs, is defensively responsible, blocks shots, finishes checks, makes great passes and has an ultra-quick release.  He had a beautiful short-handed goal.

- Tambellini has a knack for being in the right spots and, like Johnson, has a great, quick shot.  He will need to get stronger to win the board battles, but when he gets the puck in open ice he will be dangerous.

- Ausmus looked very comfortable for the first game as a freshman.  He plays a great shutdown game and isn't afraid to play physical.

- Stecher has good offensive skills and instincts which could make him a big factor on the power play.  With only one practice before this game, the power play was out of sync, but when he gets comfortable out there he could be a big factor.

- Both Ladue and Thompson looked pretty poised for their first games.  Ladue will see a lot of ice time this year.  Thompson will have to compete hard against Stecher, Panzarella and Mattson for ice time.

- Muphy looked like he might need some time to adjust to the D1 level.  Very apparent he has great offensive skill, but not as college ready as Johnson.

Uniforms:  At home, the team will be wearing green breezers and helmets (pants and buckets for you Canadiens out there).  If you haven't seen them yet, you are in for a treat this season.  They have a throwback appeal to them and really pop with the white jerseys.

Shootouts- Since the NCHC will utilize shootouts, the exhibition featured a dress rehearsal at the end.  I, like many conservative hockey fans, was hesitate about a game being decided in a shootout.  However, I'm getting really excited about it now.  We will no longer be leaving the rink with that strange feeling of no winner.  Also, they are extremely entertaining to watch.  Seeing Rocco's move has to get anybody excited for the new element to the games.

Well Sioux fans, here's to another great year of hockey!  We will obviously all miss last year's senior class, but there is plenty to excited about this season!





Coming Home!

We lost to Neuchatel 4-3 last night in a fun, fast-paced game. Bre Julius, Abby Kratske and Britt Colucci had the goals. We are in a quick layover in the Paris airport and will be heading home soon! 

Europe Update

Sorry I haven't gotten a chance to blog much, but here is an update on our week. 

Saturday we had a great guided tour of Como and a welcome meal at our hotel. We met our guides Paul and Danyella and had a nice swim in the pool at the hotel. We caught out second wind so we went across the lake to a "disco" on the beach on Bellagio. 

Sunday we went to Bellagio which was just a 5 minute Ferry ride across Lake Como. We had a free day to shop, eat, swim or anything else we could find. We found their "beaches" are rocks so we didn't do much sunbathing, but plenty of swimming!

Monday we went to Milan and had a short tour and a day to do what we wanted. Most of us went to the Duomo (the 3rd largest cathedral in the world). Some went shopping, but most of us just looked around at the Prada, Gucci, and Armani shops.

Tuesday we had our first game. We drove to Zurich, Switzerland and the other teams bus driver have us a tour. We got to see the International Ice Hockey Feseration which was awesome! We played Zurich, who were the champions of the Swiss Professional league and lost 6-1. 

Wednesday we rented a private boat and took a tour of the Ligurian Coast. We stopped in Camogli for swimming, shopping, etc. It was raining a bit, but that didn't stop us from swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. All of us Midwest folk were excited to float around in the salt water.

Today we had a free day and there was no shortage of options. Some went golfing in Mennagio, some went to Lugano for the day, some went hiking, and my family rented a car service and went to Venice for the day. It was absolutely beautiful! 

That's it for now! We are heading to Neufchâtel (sp?) Switzerland tomorrow to play our second game. I'll let you all know how it goes. We are looking to come back with a win!

Hello everybody! The Internet at the hotel is tough to get on so we weren't able to post the past couple days. Lugano forfeited so we won our first game by default. We played the Swiss national champions for the professional league tonight (Zurich) and we lost 6-1. We started to play a lot better in the second and third so we are really looking forward to our next game on Friday!

Hello From Europe!

 

 

We are officially  in Italy after a long, but fun day in Paris!  Brad from Eurosport Tours picked us up and all of our bags had arrived so all was well.  We had a wonderful first dinner and the breakfast this morning was superb as well.  We will be heading over to Como this morning where we will spend out next week.  Here's a recap of our first day!

We departed from Minneapolis last night at 8 pm and landed in Paris at 11 AM (4 AM our time) and hit the ground running.  We had an eight hour layover so we figured instead of hanging out in the airport we would visit a few of Paris’s wonderful sights.  We were picked up by Jacques (our bus driver) and Ann (our tour guide) and they did a great job showing us the must-see sights in a short 4 hour span.  We had a quick lunch and a bus tour of the historical side of Paris.  Ann let us stop at the Eiffel Tower so we could take pictures and buy a couple souvenirs (I bought 10 Eiffel Tower Keychains because they were 5 for a euro…I’m having a bit of buyer’s remorse wondering what I’m going to do with all of them).  We ended the tour by stopping at Notre Dame Cathedral which was absolutely stunning on the outside and in.  I’ve heard so many things about it, but you really can’t find words to describe how magnificent it is.

Jacques got us back to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  We were happy about this because having 41 English speaking tourists trying to figure out how to print off our boarding passes proved to be a bit more difficult than we were expecting. We did find a very helpful English-speaking employee that got us situated so all was well.

 If the first day is any foreshadowing, this is going to be a great group to tour with.  Everybody warned me about how hard this first day would be.  Between a night flight, jet lag, culture shock and having 41 different personalities, I was warned to prepare for the worst.  However, today was a pleasant surprise.  Everyone seemed to adjust to any stress or any curve balls we were thrown and we just soaked up Paris and made the most of it.  Can’t wait to see what Italy has in store for us!



A Mother's Day Weekend Reflection

It was a pretty hectic weekend here in Fargo since my parents and some of my former hockey and tennis players were in town.  It was great to see them all, but what was more moving was the reflection I had afterwards.

Friday after work I went over to take in some tennis.  The girls had played the day before in Jamestown, had two matches on Friday, and would be competing in a tournament on Saturday.  I went over to watch them and it didn't surprise me to see a number of parents there to watch their kids play.  It's a six hour drive from Williston and they were taking vacation time to be there.  Not to mention it was Mother's Day weekend.  The funny thing about it is I didn't think anything of it.  My parents made that exact same trip for five years straight when I was playing high school tennis and didn't think twice about it.  My mom's special day revolved around me (or my brothers when they were in sports) just like so many of these mothers that were here.

After the tennis match I went to have dinner with four of my former hockey players and one of their mothers whose turn it was to take them.  Not only did she devote her time and money to these players during season, but now she was devoting her time and money in the off-season to help them improve.  She inevitably spent her Mother's Day watching hockey and traveling six hours with four chatty Junior High girls.  Once again, I thought back to the days that we would be up in Canada where I was playing in some off-season tournament on my mom's special day.  Not once did my mother complain about this.  In fact, she was actually pretty good at acting like it was her idea of a Mother's Day vacation.

Since I'm retired from hockey and tennis now (playing anyways), this Mother's Day weekend was spent with sleeping in, pedicures, and brunch.  However, something struck me again on the way to brunch.  As I was driving past the softball fields I saw all of the fields occupied with what looked like 100 little leaguers and, you guessed it, 100 cheering mothers.  These women weren't getting breakfast in bed or spa days.  They were out in their lawn chairs cheering their kids on when winning and consoling when they didn't.

Sports always have a way of illustrating the big picture in life and this weekend was no different.  It showed me the incredible selflessness of a mother.  They have one day set aside for them and many of them refuse to take that one day off from being a mother, a coach, a fan, a chauffeur.  What's probably the most intriguing is that it's exactly how they want to spend it.  This is the unconditional love of a mother and something we should never take for granted.  Thank you to my own mother for all the sacrifices she made for my brothers and me growing up.  The rest of you, I hope your kids all come to the realization and appreciation of what you have done and continue to do for them.  Here's a special shout-out to you!

Why Ryan Suter Will Win the Norris

The Norris candidates have officially been announced.  Ryan Suter, PK Subban, and Kris Letang make up the hattrick of finalists.  As a Wild fan, I'm obviously biased and want Suter to win it.  Let's take a look at why that's a very real possibility.

 

In my opinion, Letang is going to be the number 3 man in this race.  He does have impressive offensive numbers (averaging a point per game) and led the NHL in assists by a defenseman despite missing 13 games.  It's not fair, but Letang is going to be handicapped by his shortened season.  People didn't get to see him quite as often as the other two.  He also benefits from an offensive team that strengthens his numbers a little bit.

 

Next up is PK Subban.  Is Subban deserving of a Norris this season?  Maybe.  Will he win it?  Doubtful.  Subban is a fantastic player, but he is also a disliked player.  From showing up late to camp becuase he was holding out for a better contract to his on-ice antics, Subban isn't the most liked or respected guy in the game.  While the Norris isn't a sportsmanship award (we've got the Lady Byng for that), the few voters that despise Subban may be what cost him the trophy in a tight race.

 

So has Suter's season justified a Norris trophy?  You have to look at the whole picture.  Production-wise, he is 2nd in assists and 3rd in points for defensemen.  What sets Suter apart is the circumstances and his impact, though.  He adjusted to a new defensive system, a new D-partner, and he did this without the benefit of a full training camp and full season.  He took nineteen year old Jonas Brodin under his wing to fill out the top pairing and he's played in all situations for the Wild.  He's been the anchor on a young and inexperienced blue line while averaging  over 27 minutes per game (most in the NHL).  The voters are going to have to look really hard to find a player that has done more for his team's success than Suter this season.  

It's a Great Day for Hockey

Well, they took the absolute hardest route possible, but for the first time in five years the Minnesota Wild will be playing playoff hockey tonight.  To celebrate the "bonus hockey" I thought I'd post a couple videos.  Enjoy!

This one is still too new to be on youtube, but check out the link.  You won't regret it!

Happy Birthday Katie!

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to do a very special shout-out today to my best friend and amazing editor on her birthday.  Happy quarter century to Beyond the Pond's Grammar God!



What Does the Gwozdecky Firing Mean for the Pioneers?

Last week we saw one of the best coaches in college hockey, George Gwozdecky, relieved of his coaching duties.  Some people like this guy, some don’t.  Some get sick of his antics and some, like me, love the comic relief he often brings to a game (storming across the ice, doing the dasher dance).  Personal feelings about Gwozdecky aside, not many will attempt to make the argument that he was ineffective as the head coach of the Denver Pioneers.  That’s why many were stunned by the firing, forced resignation (or whatever spin the Denver administration wants to put on it).  Heading into a new conference next season, finding a replacement head coach of Gwoz’s ability over the summer is not a task most schools would like to attempt.  So let’s take a look at what has happened since the announcement.

·         Scott Mayfield (Sophomore Defenseman) signed a contract with the New York Islanders

·         Juho Olkinuora (Sophomore Goalie) signed a contract with the Winnipeg Jets

·         Highly anticipated recruit Gage Ausmus (NTDP) withdrew his commitment

Mayfield hurts.  He is a fantastic stay-at-home defenseman that compliments Joey Laleggia’s offensive mentality perfectly.  I’m going to go out on a limb (or maybe not so much) and say Laleggia may not be far behind.  I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if he decided to sign over the offseason as well.  The Olkinuora signing is unexpected and could be crippling to the program.  Not only was he a 2-time All-WCHA selection, but this leaves Denver with one goalie for next season.  Zach Hope is graduating and Denver doesn’t have a goalie committed for next season.  They better hope they can find someone fast and/or Sam Brittain can play a full season in the challenging NCHC league.  To make matters worse, who is going to go find a new goalie when they currently don’t have a Head Coach?!

Unfortunately for Denver, I don’t think these three will be the last to leave.  Like I said before, I could see Laleggia panicking with the Olkinuora and Mayfield signings and the uncertainty of a new coach.  If he decides to sign, the defensive corp could really be hurting come October.  I could also see Nick Shore signing.  If he does, I don’t think his little brother Quentin will be far behind.  There were rumors of Quentin bolting for the WHL this year. If his older brother and coach are gone, I don’t see him sticking around.

No one on the outside really knows what happened, or why Coach Gwozdecky was let go.  All we really know is it seems to have caused a little bit of panic among the current and future Pioneer players.  Time will tell how it will all play out, but this could end up being one of the biggest mistakes the Denver administration has ever made.

My Evaluation of the Wild trade



Well, I had to take a break from writing after UND lost out of the tournament to Yale. I just didn’t have the heart to think or write about hockey.  However, things changed fast when the Wild completed a blockbuster trade right at the deadline bringing Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville to the State of Hockey in exchange for two quality prospects and draft picks.  Here’s the article.

What I like about the trade:

Above all, I like that Fletcher is putting his confidence in this team and trading to make them a contender right now.  Being a Minnesota sports fan, I’m so used to seeing the reverse role…watching a prospect develop into a stud just to see him traded for more prospects (Twins).  Fletcher made a bold move trading some quality prospects to bring in a guy that is in his prime right now to help the Wild win right now.  Besides what it symbolizes, Pominville brings a lot to the table.  He can play point on the power play, he can score, he can grind it out, he can kill penalties, and he’s a leader in the locker room.  He’s also a right handed shot which makes me think he’ll fit in very nicely with Z-Par and Koivu on that top line.  Also, we all have to wonder whether his buddy and linemate, Thomas Vanek (former Gopher), will consider returning to Minnesota to join him when he becomes a free agent next season.

What I don’t like about the trade:

If the Wild were going to give up some quality prospects to add a stud veteran player, I was hoping it would be a defenseman.  Their offensive line-up is starting to look pretty lethal, but can the Wild D-Corp take them deep in the playoffs?  Suter and Brodin are fantastic and Spurgeon and Gilbert have been playing fine, but it really drops off after that.  Hopefully the addition of Brett Clarke will prove to solidify the blue line.  As far as what they gave up, Larsson is the only one that I struggle with.  Kuemper has looked better in net than Hackett and with the Wild making a playoff push they aren’t going to have a very high first round pick anyway this year.  Larsson is a great two-way player with natural leadership and insane competitiveness.  If it weren’t for Coyle, Zucker, and Granlund I would have questioned this move, but it was starting to look like Larsson’s ceiling with the wild was as a third line center anyway.  He will be a big player for the Sabres and I wish him the best of luck.

What’s next for the Wild?

With the addition of Pominville and the way Coyle and Zucker are developing, it’s safe to say a few players that are in the Wild line-up won’t be next season.  I was hoping they would trade Pierre-Marc Bouchard for something (picks) because the odds of them resigning him are not much above 0%.  They didn’t get that done so he will walk away for nothing, but he’s one that I assume won’t be here next season.  I will also be surprised if Heatley is still here next year.  With the addition of Pominville and the play of Zucker and Coyle with the big club, I don’t see Heatley being a top 2 line player again.  If he’s not on a top line, I have to think they will deal him. Finally, they have to trade for or sign a free agent defenseman to solidify that group.  I look for Fletcher to do this in the off-season.

Hobey Baker Top 10 Prediction

The Hobey Baker top 10 is set to be released tonight at 5:00, so I thought I would take a stab at who I feel will be making the cut.  I will willingly admit I have a WCHA bias (as I don’t get to see many of the other teams play) and it will be apparent that I have a forward bias as well.  There just isn’t a good stat to measure defensemen and I don’t see a defenseman this year that has put up the jaw-dropping numbers to push them into the mix.  These are in no particular order.

Ryan Walters (University of Nebraska – Omaha)

Walters leads the nation in points with 52.  The fact that Omaha wasn’t able to extend their season into the Final 5 will probably prevent him from making the Hobey Hattrick in such a wide-open race, but it’s tough to leave the nation’s point leader out of the top 10. 

Danny Kristo (University of North Dakota): 
Kristo has been so good in every situation this year.  He’s great at even strength, pesky on the penalty kill, and he’s what makes the North Dakota power play run.  He also has a reputation for scoring big goals.  He has 24 goals on the season and is playing on a team that is poised to make another playoff run.  I doubt Kristo will make the Hobey Hattrick because of his off-ice incidents, but his on-ice play makes it nearly impossible to be left out of the top 10.

Corban Knight (University of North Dakota): 

Kristo’s linemate on the top line at UND will surely make a push at the top 10 and maybe even the Hobey Hattrick.  He has 48 points (7^th in the nation), the highest face-off percentage in the nation, and is one of the most reliable 2-way players in the game.  He also is a great student and a character guy.  While I predicted Kristo to be higher than Knight in the WCHA awards, I believe if a UND forward advances to the Hobey Hattrick, it will be Knight.

Drew Leblanc (St. Cloud):
To start the year, I had St. Cloud’s Ben Hanowski in my preseason Hobey picks but Leblanc has asserted himself as the clear favorite.  He was named the WCHA Player of the year and WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year- the first time in history that the same player has brought home both awards.  Above all, he led his St. Cloud State Huskies to the McNaughton Cup with his 50 points this season.  I have to think he’s a Top 10 lock and could make a run at the Hobey Hattrick.

Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College):

At the midway point of the season, I thought Johnny Hockey (as the Eagle faithful affectionately calls him) would run away with this award.  His production did slow down enough to let some others in the race, but I still think this award is his to lose.  He’s an electrifying player that led the nation in points per game.  If the Eagles are able to make a good post-season run, which they usually do under Jerry York’s tenure, Gaudreau will be in the Hobey Hattrick.

Eric Hartzell (Quinnipiac):

My only non-forward that made this list.  Hobey loves goals, but it’s tough to leave a guy like Hartzell off this list.  For those of you that haven’t looked at the polls lately, Quinnipiac had been number one in the nation until this week when they dropped to number 2.  Hartzell is a huge reason for this.  He has a .935 Save Percentage, a 1.4978 GAA, and has played 36 games.  The fact that the Bobcats are number 1 in the pairwise is going to draw attention and Hartzell looks to be the candidate that reaps the benefits of it.

Eric Haula (University of Minnesota):

With the Gophers being in and out of the national number 1 spot, I have a hard time believing they won’t have a Top 10 finalist.  As much as I love Nate Schmidt, I don’t think he’ll be in because defensemen rarely make it unless they have numbers that you simply can’t ignore.  Bjugstad didn’t have the year he was expected to and Rau hasn’t done as much as Haula.  Haula is tied for 5^th in the nation in points with 49 and and was named to the All-WCHA 2^nd team.  I don’t think his season warrants a Hobey Hattrick spot, but I do think he will crack the top 10.

Steven Whitney (Boston College):

Whitney is not as flashy (or as flashy of a name) as his linemate Johnny Hockey.  He does, however, have the points and the resume to warrant a top 10 pick.  He has 43 points with an impressive 25 goals.  He also just received the Walter Brown award given to the best American born hockey player in New England. 

Greg Carey (St. Lawrence):

Carey’s chance at the Hobey Hattrick may have ended with his team’s season last week at the hands of Yale.  However, the kid had a nation leading 28 goals this season.  Even with the season ending earlier than some of the other finalists, I don’t see him being left off the top 10 list.

Kevin Goumas (University of New Hampshire):

I may be going off the chart a little on this pick, but New Hampshire’s strong season and strong likelihood of making the national tournament are tough to ignore. Goumas is a huge reason for their success.  He only had 10 goals this season, but had an impressive 32 assists.  I could see another goalie (Hjelle or Gillies) or a defenseman sneak into the mix, but I’m going with Goumas to round out the top 10 picks.

WCHA Post-Season Awards

Well for the first time in our blog's young life, we had the honor to fill out a ballot for WCHA post-season awards (huge shout-out to Tradition of Excellence for inviting us to take part).  If you guys haven't checked out his blog and are Sioux fans, I strongly advise you to do so.  I've always respected the bloggers and beat writers that post their ballots online, so I've decided to follow suit. 

1st Team:

F - Ryan Walters - Omaha

F - Danny Kristo - UND

F - Drew LeBlanc - St. Cloud

D - Nate Schmidt - Minnesota

D - Nick Jensen - St. Cloud

G - Stephon Williams

2nd Team:

F - Corban Knight - UND

F - Eric Haula - Minnesota

F - Josh Archibald - Omaha

D - Mike Boivin - CC

D - Joey Laleggia - Denver

G - Juho Olkinoura - Denver

3rd Team:

F - Rylan Schwartz - CC

F - Matt Leitner - Mankato

F - Eriah Hayes - Mankato

D - Jake McCabe - Wisconsin

D - Dillon Simpson - UND

G - Adam Wilcox - Minnesota

All-Rookie Team:

F - Tony Cameranesi - Duluth

F - Rocco Grimaldi - UND

F - Alex Petan - Michigan Tech

D - Andy Welinski - Duluth

D - Nolan Zajac - Denver

G - Stephon Williams - Mankato

Player of the Year - Ryan Walters

Defensive Player of the Year - Nate Schmidt

Rookie of the Year - Tony Cameranesi

Coach of the Year - Mike Hastings

Goalie of the year - Stephon Williams

Well I couldn't have picked a more difficult year to fill out my first ballot.  There were so many players that could be on this list. The all-rookie and rookie of the year might have been the toughest.  Both Brodzinski (St. Cloud) and Farley (Duluth) could have been in this group and any of those players could have won ROY.  Ultimately, I had to give the edge to Cameranesi as he had to jump right into a first line center role and did it remarkably well.  My apologies to Nick Bjugstad.  As one of my pre-season Hobey Baker picks, he was the hardest to leave off.  However, I couldn't put him in front of the nine forwards I chose.  Finally, my one homer pick goes to Dillon Simpson.  He might not get as much of the praise, but he is playing on the top pairing on the 3rd place team in the league and has put up a career high 21 points.  Andrew Prochno or Andrej Sustr made that decision very difficult.



Sorry, Not Sorry

Usually I try to stay away from opinion pieces and try to write objectively, but today I have to do a public call-out of Austin Krause, the Farmington High School goalie who intentionally scored on himself, flipped his coaches the bird and walked off. Here is the article where he states his reason for doing it was because he wan't the starter (except for Senior night, obviously).  My post serves two purposes:  to vent about it, and to make a plea that other young athletes don't find this cute and copy him.

First off, whether he thinks so or not, this did not prove his point by any means.  In fact, it reaffirms the coach’s decision to play the sophomore over him.  From the outside looking in, it appears the coach’s decision to play him this game was the mistake; not his decision to not play him before.  I can say as a competitor that I hate losing more than I could ever hate a coach, no question.  If Mr. Krause didn’t have that attitude, he has no business backstopping his team.

Second, this is one of the most selfish plays I’ve ever seen.  Even if he claims some of his teammates were okay with it, I guarantee not all of them were.  Whether he liked or didn’t like his coach has nothing to do with it; the fact that he cared more about proving a point to his coaches than to battle hard for the boys he’s played with since youth hockey is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen in sports.

Third, perhaps the most disheartening thing for me when watching and reading this was the lack of respect for the game he has.  Positive Coaching Alliance urges coaches and parents to create Triple Impact Competitors:  Athletes who make themselves, their teammates, and the game better each and every day they are there.  As someone who absolutely loves the sport of hockey, I’ve always taken this to heart.  Mr. Krause didn’t just show his coaches up or let his teammates down; he dishonored the game of hockey.  From a coach/player/fan’s perspective, the game of hockey took a step forward yesterday when he walked away from it.  Here’s to hoping athletes across the nation don’t see this kid as a role model and replicate things like this.  If you love the game of hockey, honor it.  Go out there every day and attempt to make it better.

Jordan Nelson Commits to Mankato

Fargo Force forward Jordan Nelson’s future got a lot clearer this week; he’s made his decision where he’ll be lacing up his skates next season.  The 2010 North Dakota Mr. Hockey winner has verbally committed to play hockey for Minnesota State University-Mankato next season. "I'm really excited about it.  I really like their coach and just had a great feeling about the school and team.  I feel like it's going to be a great fit for me" Nelson said.

The Mavericks, who are tied for 4^th in the WCHA this year, have been a huge surprise to those that weren’t paying attention.  However, anybody in the hockey world saw that they were heading in the right direction coming into this season.  They replaced Troy Jutting with a proven winner in new Head Coach Mike Hastings and they have a handful of very talented underclassmen that include forwards Matt Leitner, Jean Paul Lafontaine and Teddy Blueger, defenseman Zach Palmquist, and goalie Stephon Williams.

The Mavericks are going to return a strong core of players next season and not one of the teams above or tied with them this season will remain in the WCHA (Denver, St. Cloud and UND will go to the NCHC and Minnesota and Wisconsin will go to the Big 10) so Nelson has to be feeling lucky to have gotten on with the ascending Mavericks.  However, the excitement surrounding the commitment is surely reciprocated by the Maverick’s coaching staff.  Coach Hastings and his crew are getting a very nice recruit late in the game.

“They are getting a reliable guy; a day-in, day-out kind of player that can also put up numbers for them.  Jordan should be an every night kid for them if he picks up where he leaves off here” said Assistant Coach Jesse Davis.  Coach Davis was a member of Jason Herter’s coaching staff that drafted Nelson in the first round two years ago and he’s seen the development in his game over the last couple seasons.  “Jordan’s really come into his own as a Junior player the end of last season and this season.  The last 20-30 games he’s really become the player we expected him to be when we drafted him (in the first round).  It’s a tough transition from High School to this league.  I think it’s tougher to adjust from High School hockey to our league than it is from our league to college.  He should have a pretty smooth transition next year" said Davis.

Nelson is relieved to have the decision over with so he can focus on the rest of his season with the Force who are in second in the USHL.  "It's nice to know where I'm playing next year.  I can finally go out and just focus on playing hockey and not worrying about next year.  We have a good team this year; I think we have the ability to go pretty far.  We're in second now, but would obviously like to get up into first, get home ice advantage, and hopefully make it all the way to the Clark Cup.  It's nice to just be able to focus on that stuff now."

Beyond the Pond wants to congratulate Jordan and thank him for always being open to talking with us!  Williston and the State of North Dakota are proud of you!  Mankato is getting a great player and an even better guy!

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts lately.  It’s been a pretty busy couple of weeks, and I just couldn’t find the will to sit down and write something.  I promised myself I would write up something while on the bus to our game in Minot.  I could write about the NHL season being back, Brian Burke being fired, or one of the never-ending topics in college hockey.  However, I can’t get my mind off of the huge win that the high school team I help coach just had.  So while the team is “cellying hard” on the bus ride back and reliving each and every moment of the game, I’m attempting to capture it in writing for all of you to read. 

Disclaimer:  Yes, this will be biased.  For an unbiased recap see willistonherald.com or minotdailynews.com

Coyote Girls Hockey Beats Minot in 2-1 Thriller!

                Ralph Engelstad once said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get."  While every North Dakota kid has heard these words hundreds of times, the frustration was obviously starting to settle in on the Williston Coyote Girls’ Hockey team.  The last few weeks it seemed like no matter how hard they worked, they couldn’t catch a bounce.  However, head coach Mat Ekblad was not willing to accept the “bad luck” excuse when he walked into the locker room at the Maysa Arena to address his team before the game.  Coach Ekblad spoke about making your own luck and emphasized that there was still more the girls could give to create the bounces they needed.  It turns out he was right, and the girls responded by controlling the play and coming away with a huge 2-1 road win.

                The Coyotes came out flying in the first period putting up twelve shots and limiting Minot’s chances.  They established a strong forecheck and were controlling the play, but couldn’t get one past goalie Sydney Swanson.  The first period ended 0-0, and despite controlling most of the period, the Coyote girls knew they had more to give.

                At the start of the 2^nd period, everybody in the building could tell that the Williston squad wasn’t content with being tied 0-0 and simply controlling play.  They threw more pucks at the net, crashed the net on every opportunity, and battled even harder.  Halfway through the period, Amanda Nelson put the Coyotes on the board.  Linemate Kayla Buck came down on a 2 on 1, drew the defenseman to her, and slid the puck to Nelson who sniped it top shelf.  The Magette’s, starting to get frustrated, took a penalty and the Coyotes went back to work.  Kayla Buck came off the side boards looking to pass the puck up to the Miller, but she was covered.  Buck found the opening in the middle of the ice, cut in to the scoring area, and rifled one past Swanson for a 2-0 lead.  The Magette’s had a couple of good scoring chances, but couldn’t get one past Maddy McLees, and the Coyotes ended the second period up 2-0.

                In the third period, Minot came out with more heart trying to get back in the game.  They got on the board with a Sydney Boyce goal at the halfway point of the period.  However, it wouldn’t be enough as McLees and the Coyotes went back to work and finished the hard-found game 2-1.  There were hugs, cheers, and tears in the locker room and on the bus.  “Why?” you might ask.  Yes, this was just one game, but the excitement comes  from 19 players giving everything of themselves for fifty-one minutes against their biggest rival and it being enough to yield the result they desired.  That’s the beauty of sports.  Tonight they got to live out the quote “The harder you work, the luckier you get!"