There has been a lot going in the WCHA since the season ended and it is time for an update.
The most important thing that has occurred (heavy sarcasm) is that Frank Mazzocco, formerly known as “the Rug,” was let go by FSN and Badger fans (and all other WCHA fans) will no longer have to listen to his ass kissing, extremely homerific play by play of gopher hockey when the Badgers cross the border. The best part of the story is the party that occurred for him at Tom Reid’s to kick off “Frank Mazzocco Photography.” I know regular commenter Hatchet Joe will be contacting Frank to take some pictures for him very soon and giving us some feedback on his new career.
Woog will also not always be part of the game broadcasts, and Anthony LaPanties will be the new play by play voice of the gophers. Congrats to gopher fans on the broadcast upgrade! It is like gopher goaltending, no matter what the name is on the jersey they’ll still suck.
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On to the serious news, North Dakota defenseman Chay Genoway will be returning for one more season in Grand Forks after receiving a medical redshirt. This is good news, not for his WCHA opponents, but because he gets to end his NCAA career on his own terms. Last season was cut short, after St Cloud’s dress wearing Aaron Marvin cheap shotted Genoway from behind, which lead to some serious problems for the young man just doing day to day activities and trying to be a student. Should he return at 100%, Genoway would have to be a front runner for the Hobey Baker to start the season.
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Wisconsin wasn’t the only team to feel some early departures. Below is the list of underclassmen moving on somewhere next season; thanks to Goon’s blog for the cut and paste.
Denver -- 3
Joe Colborne, So, F, Boston Bruins
Patrick Wiercioch, So, D, Ottawa Senators
Marc Cheverie, Jr, G, Florida Panthers
Alaska-Anchorage -- 2
Lee Baldwin, Fr, D, New York Rangers
Bryce Christianson, Jr, G, Stockton (ECHL)
Wisconsin -- 2
Cody Goloubef, Jr, D, Columbus Blue Jackets
Brendan Smith, Jr, D, Detroit Red Wings
University of North Dakota -- 2
David Toews, So, F, going to the WHL
Corey Fienhage, So, D, going to the WHL
Minnesota-Duluth -- 2
Rob Bordson, Jr, F, Anaheim Ducks
Brady Hjelle, So, G, going back to the USHL
Minnesota -- 1
Jordan Schroeder, So, F, Vancouver Canucks
Minnesota State Mankato -- 1
Kevin Murdock, Fr, G, going to Lincoln Stars USHL
Tyler Pitlick, Fr, F, Medicine Hat of the WHL (WCH is reporting his departure)
North Dakota is pretty loaded, and w/ Genoway returning, Corey Fienhage is looking for more playing time in the WHL. David Toews is headed there as well, which surprises me because he was teammates w/ Stepan and Murray at Shattuck before joining the Fighting ????? and was one of the top scorers on that team, but never really translated that at this level.
Two goalies are headed back to the USHL next season after leaving their respective programs. Brady Hjelle started a good chunk of games last season for Duluth, but didn’t play well in the 2nd half and was displaced by Kenny Reiter. Kevin Murdock started a few games w/ Mankato before being demoted to the #3 goalie. Both had good stats in the USHL before heading to college, and one of them MIGHT be an option for the Badgers heading into 2011/12. W/ the graduation of both Scott Gudmandson and Brett Bennett, and only Joel Rumpel scheduled to arrive as a freshman, the Badgers will be in need of another goalie. Both Hjelle and Murdock have NCAA experience and would space out the goalies a little by graduation. It very well could be that neither of these kids are what the Badgers need, but I’d think Eaves would want to bring in a goalie w/ some NCAA experience to compliment Rumpel in case he plays more like Adam Murray of Denver did this season as a freshman (huge sieve) than Richard Bachman did for CC a few years back.
I'm very hopeful about Rumpel, but would be a fool to not expect Eaves to have a solid backup plan.
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Lastly, Duluth freshman-to-be (well not anymore) Christopher Michael Stafne beat up his girlfriend and is in trouble w/ the law. True, innocent until proven guilty, but it doesn’t sound good for this young man. No word yet if Dave Hakstol has contacted him about decommitting and joining the Fighting ?????. That was a joke, I mean he doesn’t have a history of driving drunk or throwing landmowers into the street. There have been several incidents of college players getting in trouble this off season, w/ Boston College and Notre Dame players finding their names on police reports already.
Showing posts with label WCHA News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WCHA News. Show all posts
Friday, May 28, 2010
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Inter-WCHA Defection
This time a player has defected away from a Colorado school to another WCHA opponent. According to WCH (among other sources) Colten St. Clair has decommited from CC and will instead join North Dakota in 2010/11.
Colten put up pretty good stats in the USHL last year w/ the Fargo Force as a 16 year old and will be back for some more this year. Fargo isn't too far away from Grand Forks, if you can find a horse or wagon train heading north that is.
I wonder if the draw of pissing in elevators, rampant drunkness by Sioux players and throwing landmowers into the road had anything to do w/ his decision? I guess it beats mono, threesomes w/ recruits and choking in the post season every season.
Things are looking more bleak for CC by the month. First early depatures of top players, then John Moore goes to the CHL and now a prized recruit decommits and will suit in for a conference opponent. I feel bad for the Tigers.
Colten put up pretty good stats in the USHL last year w/ the Fargo Force as a 16 year old and will be back for some more this year. Fargo isn't too far away from Grand Forks, if you can find a horse or wagon train heading north that is.
I wonder if the draw of pissing in elevators, rampant drunkness by Sioux players and throwing landmowers into the road had anything to do w/ his decision? I guess it beats mono, threesomes w/ recruits and choking in the post season every season.
Things are looking more bleak for CC by the month. First early depatures of top players, then John Moore goes to the CHL and now a prized recruit decommits and will suit in for a conference opponent. I feel bad for the Tigers.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
minnesota coaching issues
About a month ago, Mike Guentzel resigned as an assistant coach of the gophers. Who could blame the guy? Normally I wouldn't even bring this up, but I came upon an interesting article by Pat Reusse of the Star Tribune that is definitely worth mentioning.
The article basically states the Guentzel was forced out by Don Lucia following a very sub par season, someone had to take the fall. There is no concrete evidence of this of course, but Reusse paints a pretty good picture of the whole thing. Guentzel has a son at Notre Dame playing hockey and another recently committed to Colorado College. Funny that a spot was found on minnesota's roster for Tony Lucia, who in my opinion wouldn't be good enough to play 4th line for the Badgers.
What I really found interesting about the article was on the 2nd page, Reusse rumors that perhaps Mark Osiecki would be a good replacement in the Twin Cities and states that:
"Those same WCHA circles that are certain Guentzel was run off say that the amped-up, hard-nosed Eaves makes him harder to work for than Lucia."
I've heard that Eaves is task master of sorts, but why would Osiecki think of leaving? I've heard that he hopes to stick around to take the reins of the program when Eaves moves on or retires. He is doing great things w/ the Wisconsin Dmen here, and by now is recognized by NHL teams as shaping NHL caliber talent. I think next season's Dman roster, along w/ the recruits lined up, are a testament to that. Good NHL caliber Dmen want to come to Wisconsin.
Reusse further conjectures that Patrick is frantically trying to get out of town to escape Eaves:
"One Wisconsin assistant, Kevin Patrick, has tried twice in two years to become the head coach at Alaska-Fairbanks (St. John's is a better job than that), and Osiecki might have had all a person can take of Eaves."
Perhaps Patrick instead is trying to find a good D-I coaching job to advance his career?
Personally I couldn't understand why anyone, especially a UW assistant, would want to leave for a job at minnesota. Even when Wisconsin is not doing so well, the fans still love you, especially Osiecki as an alumni. If you don't score 7 goals a night, the fans in minnesota don't even get out of their seats to cheer you.
As an aside, I have been up North on construction for a few weeks, and on tuesday I took a drive over to Grantsburg, WI to gather information on some hiking trails. As I'm driving down State Highway 70, I realize that there is nowhere to turn around until I cross the St. Croix River into minnesota. Crossing the river was similar to having an allergy to a bee sting, I couldn't breath due to the poison that emanates from the very land, and my condition did not relent until I was once again safely w/ in the borders of Wisconsin.
I find the whole article quite humorous. I think a good replacement for Guentzel would be FSN doormat Kevin Gorg.
The article basically states the Guentzel was forced out by Don Lucia following a very sub par season, someone had to take the fall. There is no concrete evidence of this of course, but Reusse paints a pretty good picture of the whole thing. Guentzel has a son at Notre Dame playing hockey and another recently committed to Colorado College. Funny that a spot was found on minnesota's roster for Tony Lucia, who in my opinion wouldn't be good enough to play 4th line for the Badgers.
What I really found interesting about the article was on the 2nd page, Reusse rumors that perhaps Mark Osiecki would be a good replacement in the Twin Cities and states that:
"Those same WCHA circles that are certain Guentzel was run off say that the amped-up, hard-nosed Eaves makes him harder to work for than Lucia."
I've heard that Eaves is task master of sorts, but why would Osiecki think of leaving? I've heard that he hopes to stick around to take the reins of the program when Eaves moves on or retires. He is doing great things w/ the Wisconsin Dmen here, and by now is recognized by NHL teams as shaping NHL caliber talent. I think next season's Dman roster, along w/ the recruits lined up, are a testament to that. Good NHL caliber Dmen want to come to Wisconsin.
Reusse further conjectures that Patrick is frantically trying to get out of town to escape Eaves:
"One Wisconsin assistant, Kevin Patrick, has tried twice in two years to become the head coach at Alaska-Fairbanks (St. John's is a better job than that), and Osiecki might have had all a person can take of Eaves."
Perhaps Patrick instead is trying to find a good D-I coaching job to advance his career?
Personally I couldn't understand why anyone, especially a UW assistant, would want to leave for a job at minnesota. Even when Wisconsin is not doing so well, the fans still love you, especially Osiecki as an alumni. If you don't score 7 goals a night, the fans in minnesota don't even get out of their seats to cheer you.
As an aside, I have been up North on construction for a few weeks, and on tuesday I took a drive over to Grantsburg, WI to gather information on some hiking trails. As I'm driving down State Highway 70, I realize that there is nowhere to turn around until I cross the St. Croix River into minnesota. Crossing the river was similar to having an allergy to a bee sting, I couldn't breath due to the poison that emanates from the very land, and my condition did not relent until I was once again safely w/ in the borders of Wisconsin.
I find the whole article quite humorous. I think a good replacement for Guentzel would be FSN doormat Kevin Gorg.
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