Archive for December, 2009

Sure, the decade doesn’t end until the end of the season, but everyone else is doing it, and I want to be featured in some end of decade talk. Call me a narcissist. A week ago we took a look at the top 10 games of the decade, and today we have sort of a mish-mash of decade awards, from coach of the decade to program of the decade to best uniform of the decade. We’ll also touch on some of the forgettable moments of the past 10 years in college hockey. For the record, I’m counting the 1999-2000 season [...]

After being charged with a DUI earlier this year, North Dakota’s Matt Frattin was reinstated yesterday, and in fact coach Dave Hakstol said there is a good chance Frattin will be in the lineup for the Sioux when they take on Niagara. Hakstol had this to say in the Grand Forks Herald in reference to Frattin’s return: “I’m really impressed with the way Matt has handled everything right from Day One. He had other options. He probably chose the most difficult path in deciding to return to the University of North Dakota. He decided to do whatever it took.” On [...]

As we hit the midseason mark in college hockey, it’s that time again for kids to eschew their Christmas breaks full of eating tons of food and being lazy for playing hockey. The tournaments range from the prestigious to the relatively new, but we have a little bit of everything in our holiday tournament preview, starting with… Badger Showdown Who: Wisconsin, Merrimack, Ferris State, Yale When: January 2nd-3rd Where: Kohl Center; Madison, Wisconsin This year’s Badger Showdown features our #4, 7 and 14 ranked teams, as well as an improving Merrimack squad. In the first game, Wisconsin pairs off with [...]

Russia 6, Austria 2: Yevgeni Kuznetsov scored 2 goals for the Russians, but Russia was expected to win by even more as they are one of the favorites to challenge Canada for potential gold. Austrian goalie Lorenz Hern made 27 saves, many of them in spectacular fashion. Canada 16, Latvia 0: The 16-0 thumping was the largest shutout victory in WJC history for the Canadians. Gabriel Borque, with 3 goals and 4 assists, tied Canada’s record for scoring in a single game. Jake Allen made 10 saves for the shutout for Canada. Nazem Kadri had two goals for Canada, but [...]

Team USA Head Coach Dean Blais has made his final cuts, and has named his final roster for the WJC starting next week in Saskatchewan. 10 current college players are on the team: Goalies (1): Mike Lee; Roseau, Minn. (St. Cloud State) Defensemen (4): Matt Donovan; Edmond, Okla. (Wisconsin) John Ramage; St. Louis (Wisconsin) David Warsofsky; Marshfield, Mass (Boston U) Jake Gardiner; Minnetonka, Minn (Wisconsin) Forwards (6) Jerry D’ Amigo; Binghamton, NY (RPI) Chris Kreider; Boston, Mass. (Boston College) Danny Kristo; Eden Prairie, Minn. (North Dakota) Kyle Palmieri; Montvale, NJ (Notre Dame) Jordan Schroeder; Prior Lake, Minn. (Minnesota) Derek Stepan; [...]

Last night was an understandably awkward one for US U20 coach Dean Blais as he was in Grand Forks, not coaching the Sioux but trying to beat them. Blais won 6 conference titles and 2 national titles in the 10 seasons he spent at the helm of North Dakota. In their tune-up for the World Junior Championships, Team USA asserted themselves quite well. The American team, with 13 collegians on their team, doubled up the Sioux, earning a 4-2 victory. Boston College Freshman Chris Kreider, who has 2 goals all season for the Eagles, had two goals in the game [...]

Just two games last night in the college hockey world, so let’s take a peek: Nebraska-Omaha 1, Minnesota State 1: Justin Jokinen scored the first goal of the game for Minnesota State, and then UNO tied it late in the first on the power play when Matt Ambroz collected his 4th ppg of the year. Anyone betting their house on the Mavericks winning this game was sorely disappointed. Northern Michigan 2, Michigan Tech 1: John Kivisto scored the first goal of the game for the Huskies, but Brian Stewart saved every shot from there on out, 22 in all, to [...]

We’re going streaking! (Lets Go DU) There are tons of coaching storylines in this weekend’s UND-USA World Junior Team game (Schlossman) Nice video of Wings star Henrik Zetterberg getting hurt by a check. (Goon’s World) Ryan Lambert has Wisconsin defenseman Brendan Smith at #1 in his Hobey Ranking (Puck Daddy) The Avalanche have a “brutal schedule” (Jibblescribbits) Three Penguins could make the US Olympic team. (Pensburgh) Colorado College is getting a new goalie (WCHBlog)