Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Wednesday Morning Coffee

  • The USOH is keeping a close eye on Team USA's top candidates for the World Junior Championships, and yesterday North Dakota freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi was in the spotlight. Grimaldi leads the team with four points (2G, 2A) in four games, and he has a six game point streak (3G, 3A) dating back to last season.
  • Through four games, North Dakota has a four-way tie for the team lead in +/- rating, and all four leaders are freshmen. Grimaldi, Colten St. Clair, Jordan Schmaltz, and Drake Caggiula are all +4.
  • North Dakota forward Brendan O'Donnell is one of several Tampa Bay Lightning prospects looking to have an impact season in the NCAA. Tampa Bay selected O'Donnell in the 6th Round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
  • Jonathan Toews participated in Chicago's successful "Champs for Charity" game, which was played before nearly 12,000 fans, while Minnesota's Defending the Blueline charity game, which included Zach Parise and Chris Porter, was also deemed a success. As NHLers remain locked out, star-studded charity games are one way for players to remain active. Matt Greene is scheduled to take part in a charity game in California while Travis Zajac will do the same in Winnipeg.
  • Zajac and his agent are evaluating several opportunities for the former Sioux centerman to play overseas and he might be headed to Europe within a few weeks (Zajac info at the very end of the post).
  • Former Sioux captain Adam Calder suffered a fractured hip last Sunday in an English Premier League game. He underwent surgery Monday, and no further details have been released.
  • Matt Frattin returned to Toronto Marlies practice last week, and he is no longer wearing a no-contact practice jersey. Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins said earlier this week that Frattin is about two weeks away from returning to game action.
  • North Dakota recruits Adam Tambellini and Wade Murphy are currently at the Canada West World Junior A Challenge Selection Camp, where they are teammates on Team Blue. They played their first game last night, with Murphy scoring his team's lone goal in a 2-1 loss. The camp concludes tonight when Team Blue takes on Team White. Luke Johnson will participate for Team USA in the WJAC, which begins next Monday in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. All tournament games can be viewed online at no charge through Fast Hockey. 
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Friday, October 26, 2012

North Dakota vs. UAA: Notes & Links

North Dakota vs. Alaska-Anchorage - Notes & Links
  • North Dakota: 1-1-0 Overall (0-0-0 WCHA)
  • Alaska-Anchorage: 2-1-1 Overall (0-0-0 WCHA)
  • Gametime: Friday 7:37 CDT/Saturday 7:07 CDT
  • Both games will be broadcast across the region on a variety of media outlets and as always, here's the standard broadcast information. For the DirecTV folks, Friday's game can be found on channel 623 while the Saturday matchup will air on channel 626.
  • Series Notes (PDF): North Dakota and Alaska-Anchorage
  • For all of the GF Herald stories, check out Brad Schlossman's Friday Morning Reading.
  • Anchorage Daily News: UAA Encouraged By UND's First-Half History
  • Anchorage Daily News: Scott Allen Making the Most of His Chances
  • Anchorage Daily News: UAA Has Odd Early-Season Schedule
  • Series Numbers: North Dakota is unbeaten in its last six games against UAA dating back to the 2010-11 season, outscoring the Seawolves 28-10 while going 5-0-1 over that span. UND holds the all-time edge with a 45-17-4 mark while going 26-3-3 at home. Heading into this weekend, UND's 32 home games against UAA are split evenly between the old and new Ralph Engelstad Arenas, having played 16 games at each venue. UND never lost to the Seawolves at the Old REA, having gone a perfect 16-0-0. In the new Engelstad Arena, North Dakota is 10-3-3.
  • Senior Danny Kristo, who will be making his regular season debut this weekend, is the lone active member of the UND Century Club with 109 career points. Corban Knight was held without a point last Saturday night against Alaska-Fairbanks, thus he remains on the Century Club doorstep with 97 career points. It will take a three point weekend, but expect him to be in the club by Saturday night. Carter Rowney, by the way, is third on the active list with 46.
  • Michael Parks will not play this weekend due to the lower body injury he suffered in the exhibition game against Manitoba. He is still at least a few weeks away from returning to the UND lineup.
  • Several players will be reuniting with former teammates this weekend. Dillon Simpson was a teammate of UAA's Bret Cameron and Scott Allen with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints, Corban Knight and UAA's Quinn Sproles were teammates on the AJHL's Okotoks Oilers, and Andrew MacWilliam and Austin Sevelrud were Camrose Kodiak teammates in the AJHL.
  • UAA's Blake Tatchell was featured in TOE's WCHA Instant Impact series prior to the season, and thus far he has not disappointed. In four games the freshman has produced three points (2G, 1A) while centering a line that includes freshman Hayden Trupp and senior Alex Gellert. Hayden, of course, is the younger brother of former Sioux star Evan Trupp.
  • USCHO's This Week in the WCHA
  • USCHO's Weekend Picks
  • USCHO's Three Things We Learned
  • CHN's Tale of the Tape
  • CHN's WCHA Power Rankings
  • CHN's WCHA 3 Up, 3 Down
  • CHN: WCHA Three Things
  • WCHB Weekly WCHA Preview
  • WCHA Weekly Press Release
  • The Hockey Writer's Combine: UND vs. UAA Game Notes
  • Sioux Sports Series Preview
  • Episode 2.04 of Through These Doors:
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Wednesday Evening Post

  • The United States of Hockey took an early look at what the Team USA roster could look like for the 2013 World Junior Championships, and Rocco Grimaldi is tabbed as a likely team member. If Grimaldi were to make the team, he would miss the home series against Holy Cross January 4-5.
  • UND women's senior goaltender Jorid Dagfinrud was named WCHA Co-Defensive Player of the Week after last weekend's performance against St. Cloud State. The women host Minnesota this weekend, and the University is running a Fill the Bowl promotion for Saturday's game during which General Admission tickets are just $1.
  • As alluded to in yesterday's post, Hockey Canada released its World Junior A Challenge Selection Camp roster for Canada West today, and a pair of North Dakota recruits made the cut. Adam Tambellini and Wade Murphy will participate in the camp beginning Sunday in Calgary in hopes of making the final Canada West roster. The WJAC will take place November 5-11 in Nova Scotia. Murphy (Penticton) currently leads the BCHL with 23 points (9G, 14A) while Tambellini, who NHL.com says is the top draft-eligible player invited to camp, leads Vernon (BCHL) with 12 points (6G, 6A) in 14 games.
  • NHL.com released a list of the USHL's top 10 NHL Draft prospects and it includes UND recruit Luke Johnson.   
  • It was announced today that the New York Islanders will will be moving to Brooklyn's Barclay Center once their lease with the Nassau Coliseum expires following the 2014-15 season. The Islanders feature one of the best prospect pools in the league, including former Sioux sniper Brock Nelson, and ESPN New York says the timing could be just about right for a high-profile Isles move to Brooklyn in 2015.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tuesday Evening Post

  • The Phoenix Coyotes fan blog Howlin' Hockey took a look at the outstanding accomplishments of Coyotes head coach and former Sioux Dave Tippett, whose efforts, the blog says, make him an unsung hero in the desert.
  • With the NHL lockout now in its sixth week, NHL players who have chosen not to play in Europe have been trying to stay busy any way they can. One such way is through charity games, and a few former Sioux will be doing just that this week. Chris Porter and Zach Parise are part of a stellar lineup scheduled to take part in the Defending the Blueline charity game coming up this Sunday at Mariucci Arena. Jonathan Toews, meanwhile, will be taking part in the Champs for Charity game Friday night at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
  • The New York Hockey Journal took aim at listing the top 25 players from the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils. Drew Stafford made the list, coming in at number 21, but a certain New Jersey Devils' centerman is noticeably absent from the rankings. This page contains numbers 11 through 25, while this one has the top 10.
  • Mario Lamoureux scored his first professional goal for the Ontario Reign (ECHL) Sunday afternoon. He also had an assist and finished the game with a plus 2 rating in the Reign's 5-2 win over the South Carolina StingRays. The StingRays' Hunter Bishop, who played four games with the Fighting Sioux before transferring to Ohio State, picked up an assist in that game as well. 
  • Former Sioux Michael Forney (Colorado) is currently leading the ECHL in goal scoring with five, while Eagle teammate Aaron Schneekloth leads ECHL defensemen with five points (1G, 4A).
  • USA Hockey released its roster for the US Junior Select Team last week and UND recruit Luke Johnson (Lincoln-USHL) made the team. The Junior Select Team will participate in the World Junior A Challenge (WJAC) November 5-11 in Nova Scotia. Hockey Canada is expected to release its WJAC Canada West selection camp roster tomorrow, with UND recruits Wade Murphy (Penticton-BCHL) and Adam Tambellini (Vernon-BCHL) expected to take part.
  • And in closing, I'm sure most everyone has already seen this, but I'd be remiss if I didn't link to Brett Hextall's music video masterpiece, Hextall Style 2500. Whoop 'em: 

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Friday, October 19, 2012

North Dakota vs. UAA/UA: Goal Rush Notes & Links

North Dakota vs. Alaska-Anchorage/Alaska - Brice Alaska Goal Rush Notes & Links



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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Corban Knight, A Center of Attention

Corban Knight's prowess at the faceoff dot is well known among North Dakota hockey fans. As a sophomore, Knight set the UND single-season record by winning 59.9% of his draws, and he has a career faceoff success rate of 59.1%. Included in those career numbers is the 58.7% clip he recorded last season while playing a good portion of the season with a broken hand. That's right. Not even a broken hand could deter Knight's faceoff dominance. In UND's two recent exhibition games, the senior centerman won an astounding 78.3% (36 of 46) of his draws. So how do his numbers compare to those of UND's recent notable centers? Take a look below.

*Just a couple of notes on the numbers:
The "% Taken" column represents the percentage of the team's draws the player took, while the "Team Rank" column represents where the player's individual Faceoff Percentage ranked on the team (a player must have taken at least 10% of the team's faceoffs to qualify for the Team Rank).

Also, this comparison only dates back to the 2004-05 season. Otherwise, Zach Parise would be very prominently featured as he was very good in the faceoff circle. As a sophomore in 2003-04 Parise won 59.1% of his draws, but the numbers from his freshman year were not readily available, thus his exclusion from this comparison.

Travis Zajac
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (04-05)
485
363
848
0.572
27.7%
1624
1442
3066
0.530
1
SO (05-06)
649
502
1151
0.564
36.4%
1642
1520
3162
0.519
1
Career
1134
865
1999
0.567
32.1%
3266
2962
6228
0.524
-

Travis Zajac is currently one of the best faceoff men in the NHL, much like he was while at North Dakota. What's particularly impressive about Zajac's numbers is that he was the primary faceoff man for North Dakota from day one, taking nearly a third of UND's faceoffs during his two years with the Sioux. His workload as a sophomore (he took 36.4% of the team's draws) is topped only by Knight's 37.2% last season. Of course, Knight missed three games a year ago, and his pro-rated "% Taken" number would have been 40% had he played every game. Zajac's 649 total faceoff wins as a sophomore is the highest total of anyone in this comparison. Knight won 581 draws as a junior, and if he's healthy I'd expect him to threaten Zajac's number this season.

Jonathan Toews
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (05-06)
204
162
366
0.557
11.6%
1642
1520
3162
0.519
2
SO (06-07)
443
332
775
0.572
26.2%
1541
1421
2962
0.520
2
Career
647
494
1141
0.567
18.6%
3183
2941
6124
0.520
-

Like Zajac, Jonathan Toews is one of the NHL's best at winning faceoffs. During his two year stint at North Dakota, he won 56.7% of his draws while taking 18.6% of the team's faceoffs. Interestingly, Toews was never the top faceoff man for the Sioux. As a freshman he was second to Zajac in faceoff percentage while as a sophomore he was bested by T.J. Oshie.

T.J. Oshie
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (05-06)
154
139
293
0.526
9.3%
1642
1520
3162
0.519
-
SO (06-07)
190
134
324
0.586
10.9%
1541
1421
2962
0.520
1
JR (07-08)
343
273
616
0.557
21.9%
1452
1356
2808
0.517
1
Career
687
546
1233
0.557
13.8%
4635
4297
8932
0.519
-

T.J. Oshie played on the wing for a good portion of his UND career, much like he does with the NHL's St. Louis Blues, but when he took to the faceoff dot he was very effective. His 58.6% success rate as a sophomore is the highest in this comparison aside from Knight's sophomore and junior seasons. One caveat to Oshie's numbers as a sophomore is the relatively small number of draws he took. Taking 10.9% of the team's faceoffs very narrowly qualified him for the Team Ranking as he played right wing much more frequently than he played down the middle.

Chris VandeVelde
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (06-07)
152
130
282
0.539
9.5%
1541
1421
2962
0.520
-
SO (07-08)
366
299
665
0.550
23.7%
1452
1356
2808
0.517
2
JR (08-09)
479
384
863
0.555
29.5%
1510
1413
2923
0.517
1
SR (09-10)
477
403
880
0.542
32.4%
1460
1253
2713
0.538
3
Career
1474
1216
2690
0.548
23.6%
5963
5443
11406
0.523
-

Chris VandeVelde was one of UND's main faceoff men over the entire span of his four year career, taking 23.6% of the team's faceoffs from 2006-07 to 2009-10. And for as prolific as he was, he was equally consistent. During his career he won 54.8% of his draws, and the lowest percentage of his career came as a freshman when he won 53.9%.

Brad Malone
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (07-08)
36
27
63
0.571
2.2%
1452
1356
2808
0.517
-
SO (08-09)
199
204
403
0.494
13.8%
1510
1413
2923
0.517
4
JR (09-10)
360
268
628
0.573
23.1%
1460
1253
2713
0.538
1
SR (10-11)
490
359
849
0.577
31.6%
1514
1175
2689
0.563
2
Career
1085
858
1943
0.558
17.5%
5936
5197
11133
0.533
-

Brad Malone developed into a very good faceoff man during his four year Sioux career. Just a 50% centerman through his first two seasons, Malone topped 57% during both his junior and senior seasons. As a junior he led UND with a 57.3% success rate, while his career-best 57.7% rate as a senior was second on the team, bested only by Knight's single-season school record 59.9%.  

Mario Lamoureux
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (08-09)
18
24
42
0.429
1.4%
1510
1413
2923
0.517
-
SO (09-10)
79
69
148
0.534
5.5%
1460
1253
2713
0.538
4
JR (10-11)
252
201
453
0.556
16.8%
1514
1175
2689
0.563
1
SR (11-12)
236
176
412
0.573
15.5%
1441
1221
2662
0.541
2
Career
585
470
1055
0.555
9.6%
5925
5062
10987
0.539
-

Mario Lamoureux took a limited number of draws as a freshman and sophomore, but as an upperclassman he was one of the top faceoff men for the Fighting Sioux. His 57.3% mark as a senior ranks as UND's sixth best single-season percentage since the 2004-05 season.

Corban Knight
Year
Win
Loss
Total
FO %
% Taken
Win
Loss
Total
FO % 
Team Rank
FR (09-10)
73
53
126
0.579
4.6%
1460
1253
2713
0.538
-
SO (10-11)
469
314
783
0.599
29.1%
1514
1175
2689
0.563
1
JR (11-12)
581
409
990
0.587
37.2%
1441
1221
2662
0.541
1
Career
1123
776
1899
0.591
23.5%
4415
3649
8064
0.547
-

Knight's numbers are fantastic across the board. He's assumed a heavy faceoff workload, and as mentioned earlier, his career success rate is a sterling 59.1%.

Below is a summary of the top single-season and career faceoff numbers:

Top 10 Single-Season FO %, 2004-05 to 2011-12
Player FO % Year
1. Corban Knight 59.9 2010-11
2. Corban Knight 58.7 2011-12
3. T.J. Oshie 58.6 2006-07
4. Brad Malone 57.7 2010-11
5. Brad Malone 57.3 2009-10
6. Mario Lamoureux 57.3 2011-12
7. Travis Zajac 57.2 2004-05
8. Jonathan Toews 57.2 2006-07
9. Travis Zajac 56.4 2005-06
10. Jonathan Toews 55.7 2005-06
10. T.J. Oshie 55.7 2007-08

Top 5 Career FO %, 2004-05 to 2011-12
Player FO %
            Years
1. Corban Knight 59.1 2009-10 to 2011-12
2. Travis Zajac 56.7 2004-05 to 2005-06
3. Jonathan Toews 56.7 2005-06 to 2006-07
4. Brad Malone 55.8 2007-08 to 2010-11
5. T.J. Oshie 55.3 2005-06 to 2007-08


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