Thursday, November 14, 2013

Recruit Profile: Danys Chartrand

Photo: SJHL.com
Current Team:  Flin Flon Bombers (SJHL)
Potential Arrival at UND:  2015
Position:  Defense
Birthday:  January 17th, 1994
Hometown:  Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Height:  6'2"
Weight:  190
Shoots:  Left


Profiles & Press Clippings:
2013-14:
  • Playing for the Flin Flon Bombers of the SJHL, he has recorded six points (1G, 5A) through 15 games as of mid-November.
2012-13:
  • Played for the SJHL's Flin Flon Bombers, producing four assists in 37 regular season games and four assists in 11 postseason contests.
  • Earned Flin Flon's Patty Ginnell Memorial Fund Award as the team's Most Improved Player.
2011-12:
  • Spent the majority of the season with the Winnipeg Wild of the Manitoba Midget Hockey League, notching 22 points (3G, 19A) in 44 regular season games and four assists in nine postseason tilts.
  • He went pointless in three games played with the Steinbach Pistons of the MJHL.
2010-11:
  • Playing for the Winnipeg Wild (MMHL), he produced 12 points (3G, 9A) in 44 regular season games and two assists in seven playoff games.
  • Played two games with the Winnipeg Saints of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Friday Morning Post

  • UND senior captain Dillon Simpson was named one of twenty candidates for the Lowes Senior CLASS Award.
  • Freshman Gage Ausmus has settled into the role of the physical, stay-at-home defenseman early on in his UND career.
  • The Dakota Student says sophomore forward Drake Caggiula bounced back nicely from the neck injury he sustained in the exhibition win over the NTDP U-18 team.
  • After a one year hiatus, North Dakota and Wisconsin will resume their long-standing rivalry next season with a weekend series in Madison.
  • Those who are unable to make it to Omaha for this weekend's series against Nebraska-Omaha can watch UNO's webcast of the games through a UND Insider subscription.
  • TJ Oshie is off to the best start of his NHL career, and part of his success may be the result of him becoming more of a student of the game.
  • Drew Stafford and Buffalo have struggled out of the gates this season, but the Sabres winger hopes to reverse the slow start.
  • The achievments Chicago Blackhawk captain Jonathan Toews have made a big impression on President Obama.
  • Sioux alum Travis Zajac is off to a bit of a slow start this season for the New Jersey Devils and on Halloween a trick-or-treater told him as much.
  • The voting for the AJHL's All-Time Top 50 players continues, and up for vote this go-round are Sioux alums Dixon Ward, Garry Valk, Geoff Smith, Teeder Wynne and UND head coach Dave Hakstol.
  • The Sioux City Journal published a great feature on recruit Trevor Olson (Sioux City-USHL), detailing the hip injury he's played through this season. Following this weekend's games he will undergo surgery in order to be fully prepared for his freshman season at UND next fall. The Musketeer captain is well-respected amongst his teammates and he sounds like quite the gamer. In a best-case scenario Sioux City, which is 9-0 with Olson in the lineup and 1-2 without him, could get their captain back towards the end of the season.
  • Women's Four Nations Cup: The Lamoureux twins and Team USA will wrap up pool play tonight when they face Michelle Karvinen and Susanna Tapani's Finland squad at 6:00 CST. The Americans are 1-1 after their 4-2 defeat at the hands of arch-rival Canada. Finland is also 1-1 in pool play. Johanna Fallman and Team Sweden will be looking to pick up their first victory of the tournament when they play Canada this afternoon at 2:30 CST.
  • World Junior A Challenge: UND's recruits playing in the World Junior A Challenge will resume play today when the semifinals get underway. Rhett Gardner and Canada West will take on Russia at 2:00 CST while Team USA, featuring recruits Nick Schmaltz, Ryan Mantha, and Austin Poganski, will take on Switzerland at 6:00 CST. Through two games, Schmaltz is tied for the tournament lead with six points (2G, 4A) and has earned the praise of NHL Central Scouting's Carl Edwards. Gardner, meanwhile, has yet to find the scoresheet, but his defensive efforts on the penalty kill have helped thrust Canada West into the semifinals.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Wednesday Morning Post

  • UND forward Colten St. Clair suffered a leg injury this past weekend against St. Cloud State and is expected to be out at least until the semester break. St. Clair's game contains an element of gritty hustle and his presence will be missed as an energy guy who plays a big role on the team's penalty killing unit.
  • Drake Caggiula's slick first period goal against SCSU Friday night was chosen as NCAA hockey's top goal of the weekend.
  • Sioux alum Dave Tippett became the all-time winningest coach in Phoenix Coyote franchise history last weekend.
  • Chris Porter became the ninth Sioux alum to skate in the NHL this season when he made his season debut for St. Louis this past Saturday.
  • The Hartford Courant says Danny Kristo has emerged as the Hartford Wolf Pack's most productive forward this season.
  • Through 13 games Corban Knight leads Abbotsford (AHL) in points (12), assists (8), and +/- (+6).
  • Mike Commodore recently did a good deed for a British Columbia charity. 
  • Women's Four Nations Cup: Team USA defeated Sweden yesterday 10-0 with Sioux alums Jocelyne Lamoureux (1G, 1A) and Monique Lamoureux (0G, 2A) each posting a multi-point game for the Americans. Team USA's next action comes today against arch-rival Canada at 6:00 CST while UND defenseman Johanna Fallman and Sweden will take on Finland today at 2:30. Finland, featuring current UND forwards Michelle Karvinen and Susanna Tapani, dropped a tight 3-1 decision to Canada yesterday.
  • World Junior A Challenge: Canada West and UND recruit Rhett Gardner earned the top seed out of Group B by going 2-0 in group play. They have advanced to Friday's semifinals where they will take on Group A's second seed. Team USA, featuring UND recruits Austin Poganski, Nick Schmaltz, and Ryan Mantha, opened group play last night with an 8-3 thrashing of Russia. Schmaltz scored two goals and assisted on two others and now has 12 points (7G, 5A) in his last five games of international competition dating back to August's Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup. Team USA's next game comes today at 6:00 CST against Canada East.
  • NTDP Four Nations Tournaments: Recruits Shane Gersich and Christian Evers will be participating in a pair of Four Nations tournaments this week. Gersich and the NTDP Under-18 team will be in Finland while Evers and the Under-17 team will be in Slovakia. Both teams will play pre-tournament games today with regulation action beginning Friday. Check out USA Hockey's Four Nations info page for full schedules and notes for both teams.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Friday Morning Post

  • For a good look at this weekend's action, check out Brad Schlossman's Friday Morning Reading and USCHO's weekly NCHC picks.
  • SCSU's Nick Oliver, a Roseau High alum, is excited to be heading to Grand Forks this weekend as he expects to see plenty of familiar faces in the stands.
  • Dave Tippett earned his 165th win as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes last night against Nashville, tying him with Bob Francis for the franchise record. Tippett also has the fifth highest point percentage (.613) in NHL history among coaches who have been behind the bench 500 or more games. Tippett's outstanding coaching resume tends to fly under the radar considering he doesn't lead one of the league's more ritzy franchises, yet he continues to put highly competitive teams on the ice year in and year out. What's interesting is to compare the careers of Tippett and Detroit head coach Mike Babcock. They're both in their 11th season as head coaches, with Babcock having coached 799 games to Tippett's 800. Babcock has 452 career victories to go along with a .635 points percentage while Tippett has notched 436 wins on his way to his .613 points percentage. Tippett's squads have missed the playoffs just twice in the past ten seasons, while Babcock's have done so only once. Tippett has never experienced a losing season percentage-wise, with his lowest single-season point percentage (.506) coming in 2008-09, his last season in Dallas. Babcock had a point percentage of .463 in 2003-04, his final season as head coach of Anaheim. The numbers do tilt towards Babcock, particularly considering his Detroit squad won the Stanley Cup in 2007-08. But considering the stark contrast in franchise stability between Detroit and Phoenix, Tippett's coaching numbers stack up quite nicely to Babcock's.
  • On Saturday night Jonathan Toews will play his first regular season NHL game in his hometown of Winnipeg, and he's pretty pumped for the occasion.
  • Toews has been named a finalist for Sportsnet's Canadian Athlete of the Year.
  • Andy Strickland of True Hockey wonders, is TJ Oshie playing the best hockey of his career right now?
  • St. Louis has had a couple of forwards go down with injuries recently, leading them to recall Chris Porter from Chicago (AHL).
  • And here's the latest edition of Through These Doors: