Thursday Morning Coffee

• Following this season, it looks like there will be at least a four-year hiatus in the Minnesota-North Dakota men's hockey rivalry (unless, of course, they were to meet in postseason play). Minnesota currently has four-year scheduling agreements with the in-state schools, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Northeastern beginning next season, its first in the Big 10 Conference. Per school policy, Minnesota was not allowed to schedule non-conference games with North Dakota while the Fighting Sioux nickname was in use, and the scheduling agreements with the aforementioned schools filled the U of M's non-conference schedule while the scheduling ban was in effect. Thus it appears as though the earliest North Dakota could face Minnesota in regular season play would be the 2017-18 season. 
• On Tuesday Brad Malone was named an alternate captain for the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL). Malone is the third former Sioux to wear an AHL letter this season, joining Chris VandeVelde (alternate captain, Oklahoma City) and Taylor Chorney (alternate captain, Peoria). Aaron Schneekloth is an alternate captain with Colorado (ECHL), while Jonathan Toews (C, Chicago), Drew Stafford (A, Buffalo), Matt Greene (A, Los Angeles), and Zach Parise (A, Minnesota) all wear NHL letters.
• The Edmonton Journal's Cult of Hockey blog says VandeVelde is making a hard push for the Edmonton Oiler fourth line center job.
• North Dakota women's hockey recruit Halli Krzyzaniak was named captain of the Team Manitoba Under-18 team.
• UND recruit Chris Wilkie and the US NTDP Under-17 team will soon be off to Monthey, Switzerland, where they will be competing in the 2012 U-17 Four Nations Cup November 6-11. Keaton Thompson and the Under-18ers, meanwhile, will be hosting the U-18 Four Nations Tournament November 6-10 in Ann Arbor, MI.
• The Canada West World Junior A Challenge Selection Camp wrapped up last night, and it was a good night for UND recruits, with Wade Murphy (two goals) and Adam Tambellini (one goal) helping lead Team Blue to a 5-1 win over Team White. The final Canada West roster is expected to be announced today, with an exhibition game against Luke Johnson and Team USA scheduled for Saturday night in Nova Scotia.