More on Chase Drake

The Wausau Daily Herald had a nice feature on Drake earlier this year.

DPlaya shares his thoughts on HIW:

Defenseman Chase Drake, who played this past season with Team Wisconsin, Mosinee High School, and finally the Green Bay Gamblers, has committed to UW, likely for 2010. Drake was ranked the 136th skater in North America by NHL Central Scouting in their final rankings. I think the Badgers have realized they need to continue to attempt to recruit at least one player a season on defense who is likely to be around for 3-4 years, in order to build some continuity. Getting guys who are drafted in the first few rounds of the NHL Draft is great, but you can't always rely on them to be around more than a season or two. Recruiting one of each type of player per season would probably help the Badger's defense remain more consistent year in and year out.

Our own Chuck Schwartz is brilliant, as he appears to have foreseen Drake's future with the Badgers. Not long ago in his Central Scouting post on our blog, he wrote the following:

One other name of mention is Chase Drake. Drake is a defenseman from Mosinee HS who played 10 games for Green Bay in the USHL after his high school season was over. Drake is an offensive defenseman who is going to need a season or 2 in the USHL to work on his play in the defensive zone. He could be a good 2010 recruit for Wisconsin if we can get him at a discount. Drake is ranked #136.

KP Watch

Yesterday, KP was in Fairbanks for a campus interview and public forum. Over on the uscho fan forum, one of the posters who attended the forum shared highlights of KP's presentation. (Thanks for sharing, Wondering.)

In today's Newsminer, KP makes his case as to why he is the right man for the job. He emphasized that he wanted the job last year and that he still wants it and that he's passionate about Nanook Hockey. Smart move on his part, as Dallas Ferguson is a Nanook alum and clearly passionate about Nanook Hockey.

He addressed the issue that the new head coach would be the 3rd head coach for some of the players, and he talked about how he would approach the players. He also addressed the over-recruiting issues and how he would address the large number of players and the competition for ice time.

I gotta tell ya, I think KP made a pretty good case for himself.

The Nanooks will announce their selection sometime next week.

Edited to add: Baggot's blog entry

Badger Women's Team News

Someday in the future (distant or near) nubeetle will start doing his part to cover our outstanding Women's Hockey team, I guess for now you are stuck w/ me and 60min.

This is older news, but Mark Johnson has been selected to coach the U.S. Women's U18 team.

Also the Women's team handed out awards. I've only recently seen how enjoyable the Women's team is so I'm still learning the players, but Hillary Knight was named Rookie of the Year. The one game I did attend this season, she made a sick move to score a goal, I instantly became a fan.

I'm really looking forward to becoming a regular attendee of Women's game next season. For how good they are they need more support, and I urge all Men's fans to use your ticket stub from a friday night game and attend a Women's game on saturday when the schedule falls allowing such to occur. Or hell just show up regardless!

Update: Badgers in Halifax

Burish has a fourth blog entry, and this time he gives a little peek at Game Day.

This evening Team USA defeated Germany 6-4. Usahockey.com has game notes, a game blog, and a game recap. I like the game blogs, as they include "what we've learned", "glass half empty" and "glass half full" after each game. You can also read IIHF.com's recap.

After barely defeating the US earlier this week, Canada barely defeated Norway this afternoon by a score of 2-1. And believe it of not, Dany Heatley was held off the scoresheet. Here are the hockeycanada.ca game recap and the IIHF.com game recap.

And, as always, I have Badger stats: .
15 F HEATLEY Dany 0G 0A, 0PIM, 4SOG, E, 16:33 TOI (22shf, 0:45 avg)
37 F BURISH Adam 0G 0A, 0PIM, 0SOG, E, 3:23 TOI (3 shf, 1:07 avg)
77 D GILBERT Tom 0G 0A, 0PIM, 1SOG, E, 15:34 TOI (21 shf, 0:44 avg)

Next up . . .
CAN - GER 5/10 @ 2:30 PM CDT
USA - FIN 5/11 @ 2:30 PM CDT
CAN - FIN 5/12 @ 2:30 PM CDT
USA - NOR 5/12 @ 10:30 PM CDT

KP Watch

Yesterday, Dallas Ferguson addressed a public forum regarding the UAF head coaching position. Today, Kevin Patrick did the same. Today's Newsminer had an article about Ferguson in which he explains why he thinks he's the right man for the job, and I'm hoping that tomorrow's Newsminer will have a similar-type article about KP. I would also expect the Madison newspapers to have follow-ups to KP's campus visit shortly.

Chris from Western College Hockey feels that the Nanuckleheads are going to go with Ferguson. But reading the comments to that post, some readers disagree.

After choosing an "outsider" in DelCastillo last year, and with that turning out badly, will UAF decide to go with an alumnus (Ferguson) this time around?

Or after choosing a coach who did not get along with players, will UAF decide this time to choose a coach (Patrick) who by all accounts is well-liked by players?

I suppose we'll know soon enough . . . stay tuned . . .

Chase Drake to don Cardinal and White in 2010

Recruiting is never boring when covering the Badgers as Defenseman and Mosinee native Chase Drake will be joining the Badgers in 2010. Todd had a quick blog post on it and a nice article.

Chase is ranked #136 by NHL Central Scouting so add him to the LONG list of Badgers recruits and a player who could very well be drafted next month.

Chase will play the next two seasons for the Green Bay Gamblers, so I should get to see him play several times, as I will be making an attempt to attend games at the Resch to specifically watch recruits starting next season.

Great choice Chase and look forward to seeing you in Madison in 2010!!!

Edit: Andy Baggot has things to add, and it appears Chase was being pursued by CC, Notre Dame, Princeton and Yale.

Another Edit: Baggot has even more to add. Including this comment, "While playing the next two years for the Gamblers, Drake plans to take science courses at UW-Green Bay that will give him a leg up on his pre-med studies at UW."

"It was a tough year on a lot of fronts"

Mike Eaves recently made the above statement about the WCHA last season. You can read Andy Baggot's blog post, but here are last season's main WCHA debacles:

• Officiating mistakes. And not just ordinary officiating mistakes, because no one is perfect. But really really bad officiating mistakes. To the extent that the WCHA had to issue apologies to the teams involved. Wisconsin got an apology, and St. Cloud got one, too. Of course, there is no factor in the PWR to account for WCHA apologies.

• Officials losing control of the game. Eaves thought the officials let thinks get too far out of hand v. North Dakota. And haven't we all seen Baby Shep lose control of a game? Honestly, I think a better question is "Who's seen Baby Shep actually keep control of a game?".

• The UMD's women's team using a player who is allegedly ineligible. The WCHA and the NCAA have yet to do anything about it, and UMD ended up winning the WCHA and NCAA championships. This should have been investigated immediately, and the appropriate sanctions should have been taken at that time. To ignore the issue and award a national title without addressing the issue is ridiculous. (Nubeetle is monitoring this issue, and I expect he'll let us know as soon as any NCAA announcements are made.)
  

Minnesotans Draft Eligible Scouting Report

www.mvn.com has short scouting reports on all draft eligible Minnesotans for the upcoming 2008 NHL Draft. This includes future Badgers Jake Gardiner, Tyler Barnes, Jordy Murray and Derek Stepan.

#23 Jake Gardiner - Defenseman - 6′.05″ 170lbs - Minnetonka HS - Shoots Right
Jake Gardiner had a strong season for the Skippers but was unable to lead his team to the state tournament. While he is considered to be a talented blueliner, some scouts are concerned over some of the mistakes he makes in his own end as he does not always seem to learn from them.

#58 Derek Stepan - Center - 6′0″ 168lbs - Shattuck-St. Mary’s HS - Shoots Right
The Hastings, Minnesota native is a dynamic scorer for the premier hockey prep school in the United States. He will be showcasing his tremendous vision and finishing ability with the Wisconsin Badgers next season. Stepan is just one of the many players in what is a very strong class of likely draftees from Shattuck-St.Mary’s.

#114 Tyler Barnes - Right Wing - 5′11″ 166lbs - Burnsville HS - Shoots Right
Tyler Barnes has a great trend of scoring clutch goals for the teams he plays for. While maybe not as physically gifted, he is a player who knows how to finish in the big game moments.

And by far the most detailed of them all:

#173 Jordan Murray - Left Wing - 5′8″ 162lbs - Shattuck-St.Mary’s HS - Shoots Left

They couldn't find anything else to say about young Jordy??? I really like the comments about Derek and Tyler. I'm sure I'll do some scouting of Tyler in the USHL next season.

INCH's Top 10 for 2008/2009

Last week I posted CHN's projected Top 10, so I guess I should include INCH's, but only because they gave us a favorable ranking.

They rank us #7, CHN and SI had previously ranked Wisconsin #8. Of course this is all irrelevant, but it nice to see our young defense core get some praise from various outlets. Jamie McBain and Ryan McDonagh are consistently being recognized as a force to be reckoned w/ next season and for good reason!

I normally boycott INCH because of the following comments they made following the regional:

"The Kohl Center announcer had to remind Wisconsin fans not to throw objects, like coins onto the ice surface. Honestly, it's something hockey fans shouldn't have to be told. Please stick to hats in the future, Badger fans."

College Hockey has so few national news outlets (USCHO, CHN, INCH) and then one of them has to make asinine remarks like this along w/ a bias bigger than Bob Norton's chin toward the CCHA and Hockey East.

Future Badger Carolyne Prevost

Dplaya turned up an article in the Sarnia Observer about future Badger Carolyne Prevost. I don't know how DPlaya finds all of this good stuff, but I'm glad he does. Prevost sounds pretty impressive, and I'm looking forward to seeing her play. She'll be joining the Badgers for the upcoming 2008-09 season. Go RED!

Canada 5 - USA 4

In their last preliminary round game, Canada defeated the US 5-4 behind the heroics of Dany Heatley. Dany had 2 goals -- one with 10.8 seconds left in the 1st period to give Canada a 2-0 lead, and another with 46.8 seconds left in the game to give Canada the 5-4 victory.

Recaps, etc . . .
USA Hockey: game notes, game blog, recap
Hockey Canada: recap
IIHF: recap, stats

Badger stats . . .
15 F HEATLEY Dany 2G 0A, 2PIM, 3SOG,+1, 15:46 TOI (24shf, 0:39 avg)
37 F BURISH Adam 0G 1A, 0PIM, 1SOG, E, 3:17 TOI (6 shf, 0:32 avg)
77 D GILBERT Tom 0G 1A, 0PIM, 2SOG, -1, 14:41 TOI (23 shf, 0:38 avg)

Next up . . . the qualification rounds . . .
CAN - Thursday 5/8 @ 2:30 PM CDT
USA - Thursday 5/8 @ 6:15 PM CDT

Patrick wants to be a Nanucklehead

Baggot (Badger Blog): Patrick narrows his focus

Milewski (Icehouse): Patrick withdraws name from Gamblers search

Asked whether dropping out of the Green Bay search was connected to his upcoming interview in Alaska, he said: "That's the job I want."

(See, HTTGS, I'm runnin' with it . . . )

Schedule Links

The men's schedule has been released, and everyone's talking about it:

Milewski (Icehouse): Dissecting the schedule

Milewski (TCT): No more conflicts with World Juniors

"We talked about it again," Eaves said, alluding to discussions at league meetings. "If teams want to play nonconference games at that time, that's fine. But no league games are supposed to be done at that time."

And apparently Wisconsin "wants" to play nonconference games at that time, as (in addition to the Badger Hockey Showdown) they'll be hosting Northern. It's nice that the WJCs won't affect league standings. But it's not-so-nice that the WJCs will affect the non-conference games that can such a huge affect on the Pairwise.

Levine (TCT): UW men's hockey opens 2008-09 slate vs. NCAA champs

Baggot (WSJ): Brutal schedule for Badgers

But while Eaves likes the performance bar to be set as high as possible, he acknowledged a scenario where that philosophy could change very quickly.

"If they create the rule that you have to be .500 or above to get into the tournament, we're going to have to take a look at what we do," Eaves said of his approach to scheduling.

Baggot (Badger Blog): Schedule not for faint of heart

2008/2009 Schedule

The schedule has been released!!!

Oct. 10, at Boston College, 6 p.m.
Oct. 11, at New Hampshire, 6 p.m.
Oct. 17, at Denver, 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 18, at Denver, 8 p.m.
OCT. 24, MINNESOTA, 7 P.M.
OCT. 25, MINNESOTA, 7 P.M.
Oct. 31, at North Dakota, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1, at North Dakota, 7 p.m.
NOV. 7, MICHIGAN TECH, 7 P.M.
NOV. 8, MICHIGAN TECH, 7 P.M.
Nov. 14, at Minnesota Duluth, 7 p.m.
Nov. 15, at Minnesota Duluth, 7 p.m.
Nov. 21, at St. Cloud State, 7 p.m.
Nov. 22, at St. Cloud State, 7 p.m.

COLLEGE HOCKEY SHOWCASE at Kohl Center
NOV. 28, MICHIGAN STATE, 7 P.M.
NOV. 29, MICHIGAN, 7 P.M.

DEC. 5, ALASKA ANCHORAGE, 7 P.M.
DEC. 6, ALASKA ANCHORAGE, 7 P.M.

BADGER HOCKEY SHOWDOWN at Kohl Center
DEC. 27, Pairings not set (Harvard, Alabama-Huntsville, Wisconsin, Lake Superior State), 4/7 P.M.
DEC. 28, Consolation/championship game, 4/7 P.M.

JAN. 2, NORTHERN MICHIGAN, 7 P.M.
JAN. 3, NORTHERN MICHIGAN, 7 P.M.
Jan. 9, at Alaska Anchorage, 10:30 p.m.
Jan. 10, at Alaska Anchorage, 10 p.m.
JAN. 16, COLORADO COLLEGE, 7 P.M.
JAN. 17, COLORADO COLLEGE, 7 P.M.
JAN. 30, MINNESOTA DULUTH, 7 P.M.
JAN. 31, MINNESOTA DULUTH, 7 P.M.
Feb. 6, at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
Feb. 7, at Minnesota, 7 p.m.
FEB. 20, DENVER, 7 P.M.
FEB. 21, DENVER, 7 P.M.
Feb. 27, at Minnesota State, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 28, at Minnesota State, 7 p.m.
MARCH 6, NORTH DAKOTA, 7 P.M.
MARCH 7, NORTH DAKOTA, 7 P.M.

March 13-15, WCHA Playoffs (Campus Sites)
March 19-21, WCHA Final Five (St. Paul, Minn.)
March 27-28, NCAA East and Midwest Regionals (Bridgeport, Conn., and Grand Rapids, Mich.)March 28-29, NCAA Northeast and West Regionals (Manchester, N.H., and Minneapolis)

April 9-11, NCAA Frozen Four (Washington, D.C.)

Its going to be a rough start, for no other reason then we play 10 out of 14 on the road. Nice to see a non-WCHA series during the WJC against N. Michigan, though N. Michigan should be pretty good this season. I also like the home series the final weekend of the regular season.

I'll probably have more to say about this in the future, just wanted to get this out for the readers ASAP.

Kevin Patrick / Jamie McBain : A couple more articles

WSJ: McBain to return, but Patrick may go

Newsminer: Ferguson, Patrick named Nanooks' hockey finalists

Update: Badgers in Halifax

Chicagoblackhawks.com has a great Q&A with Adam Burish about his Team USA experiences so far. (Thanks to HIW for the heads-up.) Burish also has a 3rd blog entry on usahockey.com.

Yesterday, Team USA defeated Slovenia 5-1 and Canada defeated Latvia 7-0. You can find game notes, game blogs, and game recaps for all US games HERE on usahockey.com. You can find the game recap for the CAN-LAT game HERE on hockeycanada.ca. IIHF.com also has recaps for the USA-SLO and CAN-LAT games. The last recap asks if the Heatley-Nash-Getlaff line is Canda's best ever line at the Worlds.

And, of course, I have stats for the 3 Badgers:

CAN 7 - LAT 0
15 F HEATLEY Dany 1G 3A, 0PIM, 2SOG,+3, 13:20 TOI (14 shf, 0:57 avg)

USA 5- SLO 1
37 F BURISH Adam* 0G 1A, 0PIM, 2SOG, E, 10:35 TOI (12 shf, 0:52 avg)
77 D GILBERT Tom 0G 0A, 0PIM, 2SOG, -1, 16:42 TOI (18 shf, 0:55 avg)

Next up: USA v. CAN tomorrow 5/6 @ 2:30 CDT.

3 Badgers Selected to US Women's National Program's Residency

USA Hockey has selected 18 players to participate in their Residency Program, during which the players will train in Blaine, Minnesota from August 2008 through September 2009. The 18 players have all completed their collegiate careers. Kerry Weiland, Molly Engstrom, and Jinelle Zaugg will be representing the Badgers. Jinelle will join the program in-progress in December after she completes her studies at UW.

Milewski has a nice little description of the residency program.

KP v. Dallas Ferguson

Kevin Patrick and Dallas Ferguson are the 2 finalists for the head coaching position at UAF. On-campus interviews and public forums will take place this Wednesday and Thursday, with the new head coach slated to be announced by the end of next week.

Ferguson was a defenseman for the Nanooks from 1992-1996, he's been an assistant coach for the Nanooks for the past 4 years, and he's been serving as the Interim Head Coach since DelCastillo resigned.

By the way, you can check out Patrick's and Ferguson's resumes on the above link.

Edit: I initially forgot to provide this newsminer blog entry from last month. It has a reprint of the newsminer interview with KP when he was a finalist the last time around.

Jamie McBain back for another year?

(Photo courtesy of Redheat15) Milewski reports that Jamie McBain has said he'll be donning the Cardinal and White for another season. Since he'll be the only upperclassman on D next season, this is huge news.

Apparently, for the time being at least, the Hurricanes feel it would be in Jamie's best interest to return for another season. Now, the 'Canes could certainly change their mind before October. I don't follow the 'Canes much, but it sounds like they still need to figure out what they're doing with 4 or 5 free agents on D. (Or so wojo says, and I believe everything wojo tells me.) So that could affect things, as could Jamie's performance at the prospects camp this summer. So I don't really think "the book is closed", as Todd says, or at least not completely closed.

Nonetheless, I think Jamie's statements and Carolina's statements are a good indication that Jamie is mostly likely to be back. And that makes me a Happy Badger.

McKellen to again play Gandalf in the Hobbit

This has nothing to do w/ Badger Hockey, but to coin a 60min phrase, "I'm pretty fired up" about it!

Ian McKellen who dominated as Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White in the Lord of the Rings triology will return to play Gandalf in the Hobbit and some other movie that Peter Jackson is going to create based JRR Tolkien's world.

Gandalf was by far my favorite character in those films (you'd never imagine that by my username...) and I look forward to the movie's 2010 debut.

Great Matt Thurber Article

Thanks to HIW for the link to a very nice article about Matt Thurber in a local Omaha paper.

I won't lie that out of all 6 freshmen coming in next season that Matt is definately the player I'm most excited to see play. That is taking nothing away from his future teammates in the class, but its just a gut feeling I have about Matt.

Right before the NCAA Regional I met another Badger Hockey fan (the famous DCB) up in Green Bay to catch the Gamblers versus the Omaha Lancers. I was going to see 4 future recruits play, besides Matt, I wanted to see Patrick Wiercioch, Ryan Little and Aaron Crandall, but really I was going to see this future Badger playmaker foremost. Well Crandall was not in net for the Gamblers and Matt was out w/ the flu for Omaha. Still glad I was able to see a preview of two future blue liners though.

I was disappointed, but illness happens, and now the suspense is building for me for next season. Reading this article has me excited, the transition between seasons for the Badgers might be in full swing, but I can't wait for next season already.

I think Matt is going to be a special player for the Badgers, maybe not out of the gates, but once he gets the feel for the WCHA, I think he will a consistent playmaker who plays a pivotal role in the Cardinal and White for the next several seasons.

I don't suppose any of our readers are skilled at Guitar Hero?

http://oilers.nhl.com/contests/guitarhero.htm

Calder Cup Badgers

The Calder Cup Playoffs are currently underway, and a number of Badgers are involved. The playoffs are currently in the 2nd round (ie the Finals for each of the 4 divisions).

Here are the playoff stats for Badgers whose teams are still competing for the Calder Cup:

Player	Team	Current Series	Round 1 Series	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Jake Dowell	RFD	CHI 2 – RFD 0	RFD 4 – HOU 1	7	1	1	2	-1	2
Jack Skille	RFD	CHI 2 – RFD 0	RFD 4 – HOU 1	6	1	1	2	-3	6
Brian Fahey	CHI	CHI 2 – RFD 0	CHI 4 – MIL 2	8	1	3	4	+3	10
Andy Wozniewski	TOR	TOR 0 – SYR 1	TOR 4 – SAN 3	8	1	2	3	+3	6
Kyle Klubertanz*	POR	PRO 2 – POR 1	POR 4 – HFD 1	1	0	0	0	0	0

* Released from ATO

You know, I really wish I had posted the above stats BEFORE Rockford's 7-3 loss to Chicago last night. Dowell's and Skille's stats looked better before.

Here are the playoff stats for Badgers whose teams were eliminated in Round 1:

Player	Team	Round 1 Series	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Jeff Likens	MCH	PRO 4 – MCH 0	4	0	0	0	E	6
Joe Piskula	MCH	PRO 4 – MCH 0	4	0	0	0	+1	4
Davis Drewiske	MCH	PRO 4 – MCH 0	4	0	1	1	-3	6
Andrew Joudrey	HER	WBS 4 – HER 1	5	0	1	1	-4	0
Josh Engel*	ALB	PHI 4 – ALB 3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ross Carlson	HOU	RFD 4 – HOU 1	4	0	0	0	-1	0

* Released from ATO

I hope I included all of the Calder Cup Badgers. Let me know if I missed anyone!! (You can leave a comment or you can email me at sixtymin@gmail.com.)

Calder Cup homepage
Calder Cup bracket and schedule
Calder Cup stats

A couple of WCHA links

Both of these articles are from the Star Tribune and were posted by 4four4 on the uscho fan forum.

WCHA optimistic over ending early departures

McLeod and his colleagues aren't necessarily upset about NHL clubs that sign players and keep them on the roster. What is a concern is when players are sent to the minor leagues. "The number of signings have more than doubled since the NHL lockout ended" in 2005 and a new collective bargaining agreement was put in place, McLeod said. "But the number of those signings with players going right to the NHL hasn't changed at all. That's the issue for us."

The Western College Hockey Blog mentioned this in a post last Sunday and referenced a TSN column. The talks appear to have been informal and appear to be unlikely to lead to any changes soon.

Picture hasn't cleared up yet, but WCHA network's in play

McLeod also said initial discussions haven't necessarily involved a 24-hour channel but rather one that carries men's and women's games and perhaps some other ancillary programming. "I've been a little surprised at how fast this has gone along and how strong the WCHA as a brand is in our footprint," he said. "This has been very well received."

This would be great, as long as it increases overall coverage and doesn't decrease coverage on other networks. Not quite sure how it would work out given that a lot of games occur at the same time each weekend, but any increased coverage is a good thing. I'd especially like to see some increased coverage of women's hockey.

Saturday Afternoon Link-O-Rama

Looks like this will be a shorter-than-usual link-o-rama, because I already did separate posts for some other items today.

• KP Watch update . . . phone interviews for the UAF position were completed Wednesday and Thursday, and the field of 7 candidates has been reduced to 2+ finalists . . . Karr has not said how many finalists have been selected, except for that it's "at least 2" . . . He is not releasing the names "because two of them have to discuss the matter with their families and current employers" . . . finalists will visit the campus Thursday and Friday, so I would expect the finalists to be announced early next week . . . with the new head coach expected to be named the following week . . .

• Up next for our Badgers in Halifax -- Sunday, May 5 -- CAN v. LAT Sunday at 2:30 CDT and USA v. SLO at 6:15 CDT. You can watch the games on WCSN.com -- you have to subscribe, but it's only $4.95 for a month subscription, so that's not bad at all. Other useful links: Team USA's tourney homepage, Team Canada's tourney homepage, and the IIHF homepage.

• And this is not really related to Badger Hockey . . . although if pushed I'll make the argument that it is because Rafalski and Chelios play for the Wings . . . but I found it a bit bizarre and thought I'd include it for your reading enjoyment . . . (also, I didn't want to do a linkorama with only 2 items, and I'm too lazy to look for a 3rd item to include, although I'm sure I'll think of something obvious later . . . )
  

NHL bans octopus swinging; $10,000 fine for offenders

Details were scarce Friday, but the Wings have been told by the NHL that head octopus wrangler Al Sobotka no longer may swing the mollusks over his head while removing them from the ice at Joe Louis Arena. If he (or anyone else) does, the team will be fined $10,000.

That's $1,250 per tentacle.

In an e-mail to the Free Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown gave this explanation: "Because matter flies off the octopus and gets on the ice when he does it." The Wings wouldn't comment.

Ducks general manager Brian Burke complained about Sobotka's swinging last year. Before Friday's game, an octopus landed on the ice, as usual, and Nashville defenseman Greg Zanon whacked it aside with his stick.

Edit: After posting the octopus swinging item to get 3 items in this little linkorama, I knew I'd come up with at least 1 more item at some point today. And sure enough, I did.

• NHL.com has a lovely article on Badger and Red Wing Brian Rafalski.
  

Joe Pavelski scores OT game-winner

How cool is Joe Pavelski? Seriously! This picture was on San Jose's website, and needless to say I like it a lot. A LOT!!

San Jose's website also has a fantastic article about Pavs. Scoring the OT winner in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Pavs is leading the Sharks in playoff scoring. Makes ya proud to be a Badger, doesn't it?

My favorite part of the article is this quote by teammate Jeremy Roenick: “We knew ‘Pavs’ was going to put it in,” center Jeremy Roenick said with a smile. “All that kid does is score goals.”



If you go to Sharks TV (under Multimedia on San Jose's website), you can watch Pavs' post-game comments and game highlights. (Start watching at 4:39 of the highlights video.)

Justin Schultz, BCHL Interior Defenseman of the Year

Looking back at the blog entries from the past month or so, I realized that we had neglected to post this! A couple weeks ago, a reader was kind enough to email me regarding this honor, and I have been very delinquent in posting it myself or checking to see if the other contributors had posted anything. So my apologies to reader Kenny and to Justin Schultz fans everywhere . . . [hangs head] . . .

Justin Schultz was named Defenseman of the Year for the BCHL's Interior Conference. (For those who don't follow the BCHL, it has two 8-team conferences -- the Coastal Conference and the Interior Conference.) Not too shabby, considering Schultz was a rookie this past season.

The Kelowna Capital News has a very nice article about Schultz's breakout season and his winning the award.

“It’s a great accomplishment for him,” said Warriors coach Mark Howell, who finished as the runner up to Penticton’s Fred Harbinson for Interior coach of the year. “Justin really established himself as one of the premier guys in the league, especially in the second half of the season.”

To say this year has been a breakout season for Schultz would be an understatement.

Coming out of Westside Minor Hockey’s midget AAA team last year, the 17-year-old drew the attention of NHL and college scouts with his smooth skating, pinpoint passing and electric end-to-end rushes.

Here's what Gandalf had to say about Schultz in his BCHL wrap-up last month:

Justin Schultz played his 1st season w/ the Westside Warriors and looks to have the makings of a great defensemen. From his stats, he doesn't take a lot of penalties and appears to be a solid performer on the PP. He was tied for the team lead in scoring for defensemen. His stats: Regular Season: 57 games 9-31-40 w/ 5 PP goals and 28 PIM Post Sesaon: 11 games 3-5-8 w/ 1 PP goal and 4 PIM

DPlaya found some video of Schultz, and you can find those on HIW here and here.

Schultz (along with KT) made The Hot List on 4/2/08.

12. Justin Schultz, D – Westside Warriors (BCHL): Schultz’s Warriors may have fallen to Dalpe’s Vees, but the 17-year-old still showed why he has been recruited to shore up the Wisconsin Badgers’ blueline next year. The defender had eight points in 11 post-season games to go along with 40 points in 57 regular season contests. Draft eligible in 2008.

Schultz played for Team West in December in the 2007 CJAHL Propsects Game. He had 1 goal and 1 assist in Team West's 5-3 loss to Team East. In January, he played in the 2008 BCHL All-Star Game, in which he had 1 assist in Team Interior's 15-9 loss to Team Coastal.

I've also listed links for TCT and WSJ coverage of Schultz's verbal to the Badgers:

The Ice House - Defenseman Schultz commits
Badger Blog - Another recruiting coup
WSJ - New recruit offers defense, offense

College Hockey News looks toward 2008/2009

CNH has a nice article projecting the Top 10 for next season. They rank the Badgers #8, the same as SI, but for some reason CHN was able to get the players names right, amazing!!!

I don't put much stock in rankings in general, but its nice to see the Badgers get some respect going toward next season.

There is still a ton that is going to happen in the coming months. Most of the teams listed in CHN's article still have early departure risks (including the Badgers) and it will be interesting to see how that pans out. W/ classes ending in the next weeks on most campuses, I wonder if there will be another wave of signings.

Erika Lawler, Unsung Hero

(Photos from usahockey.com courtesy of Phillip MacCallum)

The folks at Beyond the Dashers made the trip to China last month for the IIHF World Women's Championships. And on their blog they gave out BTD All-Tourney Honors. They named Erika Lawler as the Unsung Hero for her excellent vision, solid defense, and superior puck handling. I would have to think that Lawler's competitive drive (does she ever stop working during a game?) had something to do with this, too. Yes, I know BTD was started by Badger Fans, but they seem to be pretty objective, so I think it's pretty cool they gave this award to Erika.

By the way, I've added Beyond the Dashers to our list of WCHA/NCAA links. BTD covers women's college hockey news, polls and rankings, and D-I and D-III commitments.

Belated Congrats to our Gold & Silver Medal Badgers

(Photo from usahockey.com courtesy of Phillip MacCallum)

I should have done this a long time ago, but better late than never, right? On April 12, Team USA defeated Team Canada 4-3 to win the 2008 IIHF World Women's Championship. Badgers Meghan Duggan, Hilary Knight, Erika Lawler, Jessie Vetter, Molly Engstrom, and Kerry Weiland took home the Gold. Badgers Meaghan Mikkelson and Carla MacLeod took home the Silver. Congratulations, ladies!

Here are the Badgers' stats from the championship game:


Duggan 0G 1A, 3SOG, +1
Knight 0G 0A, 1SOG, E
Lawler 0G 0A, 1SOG, E
Engstrom DNP
Weiland 0G 0A, 2SOG, -1
Vetter 21 SAV

Mikkelson 0G 0A, 0SOG, E
MacLeod 0G 0A, 2SOG, -2

Burish blogs at the World Championships

Adam Burish is blogging during his experience and praticapation with Team USA at the IIHF World Championships. He has two posts so far, Welcome to Camp and Team Bonding.

As previously mentioned on the blog, Adam is joined by former 2006 Championship Teammate Tom Gilbert on Team USA.

As for Team Canada, Kyle Turris and Dany Heatley are praticipating. KT is a member of the practice squad, while in the Canada's opening round game today Dany became Canada's all-time leading goal scorer w/ a hat trick in the 5-1 victory of Slovenia.

Team USA won 4-0 over Lativa, I'll edit the post once I can get more updated information.


Edited by 60min to add stats for our Badgers in Halifax:

CAN 5 – SLO 1
15 F HEATLEY Dany 3G A1, 2PIM, 8SOG,+3, 15:36 TOI (22 shf, 0:42 avg)

USA 4 – LAT 0
37 F BURISH Adam* 0G 0A, 2PIM, 1SOG, E, 4:52 TOI (8 shf, 0:36 avg)
77 D GILBERT Tom 0G 0A, 0PIM, 5SOG, E, 14:33 TOI (21 shf, 0:41 avg)

* Listed as "BURISH Mark" on the IIHF website.

Eaves' and Johnson's contracts extended

Per Milewski, the UW has extended the contracts for Coach Mike Eaves and Coach Mark Johnson until June 2013.

Hockey's Future Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

Hockey's Future has been continuing to issue Top Prospect articles for each of the NHL teams. And while I have been "temporarily hibernating" since Denver, thankfully DPlaya has not, and therefore all the links were there waiting for me when I stopped by his blog today as one of my first stops since turning my computer back on.

Last month, I posted the HF articles pertaining to Jamie McBain, Brian Elliott, and Kyle Turris. Today, I have the same for Robbie Earl, Brendan Smith, Jack Skille, Jake Dowell, and Matt Ford.


Maple Leafs Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

6. (4) Robbie Earl, LW, 22, Toronto Marlies (AHL)

Acquired: Sixth round, 187th overall in 2004.

Earl’s second full professional season started off strong, but his play has tapered off as the season progressed. Earl potted 10 of his 14 goals this season before the calendar flipped to 2008. The 6’0 195 lb winger possesses blazing speed off the wing and shifty one-on-one moves that make him difficult to contain. Consistency has been an issue for Earl since he arrived in Toronto. There are games where he looks like a high-end prospect, capable of scoring on any given shift, and then there are games when he is difficult to find. The Illinois native got his first taste of the show this year as well, suiting up in nine games with the Leafs and registering one assist. Is Earl a late bloomer or just another player who can’t translate NCAA stardom into pro success? Next year will be a big one for Earl. He finished the season with 14 goals and 33 assists in 66 games.



Red Wings Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

5. Brendan Smith, D

Acquired: 1st round, 27th overall, 2007
Height: 6’1, Weight: 172 lbs

Smith raised a lot of eyebrows at the start of his first year of college hockey. The defenseman tallied two goals and four assists in his first four games with the NCAA Wisconsin Badgers. Smith was only able to muster six assists in his last 18 games, but still it was good production for a a true freshman defenseman.

A re-occurring back injury was to blame for the minimal amount of games that he played in. Smith needs to build up more muscle to withstand the constant pounding. He is expected to take on a more prominent leadership role next year for the Badgers.


Blackhawks Top 20 Prospects, Spring 2008

4. Jack Skille, RW

6', 205 pounds
Drafted Round 1, 2005
Born: May 19, 1987

In 16 games with the Blackhawks in 2007-08, Skille showed both the skill and holes in his game that have always divided observers alike on his potential. In those contests, he had three goals, two assists and was +1. Without question, he is blazing fast and has a nose for the offensive transition game. However, Coach Denis Savard rightly questioned Skille's commitment to work on the boards. His defensive zone play and positioning on the breakout were sloppy and inconsistent. The former Wisconsin Badger has always been touted as a power forward, with a stout 205-pound frame, yet he seems to play the game more as a finesse winger, preferring to prowl for breakaway opportunities and fat rebounds. At Rockford, Skille was marginally more productive, with 18 goals and 16 assists (-3) in 59 games.

Jake Dowell and Matt Ford did not make the Chicago's Top 20, but they were listed as #7 and #8 of the "Other Notables", so I suppose that puts them as #27 and #28 overall.

KP Watch

As I'm sure you're all aware, the Badgers may soon be in the market for a new assistant coach. As reported by Todd, Kevin Patrick has applied for 2 positions -- the head coaching position for the UAF Nanooks and the head coaching position for the Green Bay Gamblers. KP is currently the 2nd assistant for the Badgers, and it's no surprise that he's looking to advance his career.

USHR had reported that the Gamblers position was filled by St. Louis Bandits (NAHL) head coach Jon Cooper, but according to Todd the Gamblers president has "strongly refuted" that report. According to the USHL blog, the USHR report indicated that the hiring is not yet being announced because the Bandits are in the playoffs. So I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. The Robertson Cup championship game is this Sunday, so perhaps we'll hear something next week.

The USHL is a step down from Div I NCAA hockey; however, if he gets the job KP would be moving from a position as a 2nd-assistant to a position as a head coach. I would think the scope of the position and the salary would be a big stepping stone for his career, especially as he has no previous head coach experience.

Moving on to Alaska, the Nanooks have narrowed the field from 16 applicants down to 7. AD Forrest Karr has not named any of the finalists, but you've gotta think that KP made the cut, given that he was one of the top 4 finalists for the position last year. After all of the phone interviews are conducted this week, the field will be narrowed to 2 or 3 finalists who will have on-campus interviews late next week. Karr indicates he will announce the new head coach during the business week of May 12-16.

When the applications were being taken for the UAF position last month, KP said, "I think it’s a wonderful college hockey town. I was very impressed when I was there last year. The community really supports the program."

The UAF program is currently somewhat of a mess. The circumstances behind Doc DelCastillo's leaving have not been made public. But it appears that the players and other staff were unhappy with him, and it appears there may have been other more serious issues as well. And while the community strongly supports Nanook Hockey, the commitment of the university to its athletics programs has been questioned. It remains to be seen if any of DelCastillo's recruits will change their minds, but right now it seems the Nanooks have 19 returning players and 13 recruits lined up for next year. (Heisenberg has 13 recruits listed for 2008, with 3 having signed LOIs, and a bunch more lined up for 2009.)

So, you'd have to think the situation in Fairbanks will be a bit "interesting" for the candidate who is selected for the position. Especially given the number of players lined up for next year. But, of course, the recruiting logjam would have been no secret to any of the applicants, so you'd figure KP is aware of this potential difficult issue.

Anyway, keep you eyes open next week for the announcement of the finalists for the UAF position and for a possible announcement regarding the Gamblers' position.

Awakening from a Temporary Hibernation

Photo from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

I haven't been hibernating, because Badgers are not true hibernators. But depending on the climate, some Badgers become torpid and "temporarily hibernate". During this dormant time, a Badger's heart rate and body temperature drop, but not to the extent of a true hibernator. Also, distractions can wake Badgers up during this dormant period, whereas true hibernators would remain inactive.

So, the offseason has apparently sent me into a torpor, but I have been awakened by various Badger Hockey related things. So I thought I'd pop my head up from my "burrow" and catch up on those things. (Don't expect too much from me, as I'm still a bit sluggish, and I expect that the off-season will periodically cause further torpor. Luckily for me, and for Badger Fans everywhere, Gandalf and Chuck have been doing a bang-up job!)

Anyway, keep your eyes open the rest of this weekend, as I expect to have a belated piece on Gold and Silver Medal Badgers, Calder Cup Badgers, and perhaps (if I have enough time) a little tribute to Tom Gilbert's first complete NHL season.

USHL Badger Recruit Semi-Final Roundup

I can guarnatee one thing on the first day of May, 2 Badger recruits will win the Clark Cup.

The Waterloo Blackhawks (Brock Montpetit and Craig Smith) swept the Chicago Steel in one semi-final, while the Omaha Lancers (Patrick Wiercioch and Matt Thurber) slipped past the Lincoln Stars (Travis Erstad) in 5 games. In game 5 last night, Omaha was down 2-0 at one point, but charged back to win 5-4, including a goal by Matt Thurber.

The box scores for all of the semi-final games can be found here: 4/22, 4/23, 4/25, 4/26, 4/27, 4/29 and 4/30.

The Finals start Sunday night, GL to both teams. I might try to catch a game at some point on B2Live.

Recruit Stats for the Semis:

Forwards:

Matt Thurber: 3-2-5, Even, 13 SOG & 4 PIM
Travis Erstad: 1-1-2, Even, 6 SOG & 2 PIM
Brock Montpetit: 1-2-3, +3, 8 SOG
Craig Smith: 1-2-3, +3, 11 SOG, 2 PIM

Defenseman:

Patrick Wiercioch: 1-3-4, -5, 21 SOG, 4 PIM

I'll have to give Matt Thurber Badger Recruit of the semi's, but its great to see that all 5 young men have contributed to their teams during the playoffs.