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.

Thursday Morning Post

• Due to this season's conference realignment, USCHO says a new generation is now born in men's college hockey.
• Valley News Live says UND is heading into both a new season and a new era.
• The Herald examines the local connections on this season's team.
• The United States of Hockey previews some of the nation's impact freshmen, and UND's Wade Murphy, Gage Ausmus, and Adam Tambellini are all included.
• Gab Fundaro of The Hockey Writers says the UND women have enough depth and talent to potentially make a run at the Frozen Four.
• Travis Zajac will be wearing the A as an alternate captain for New Jersey this season, while TJ Oshie is expected to be named an alternate captain for St. Louis. They join Jonathan Toews (C - Chicago), Matt Greene (A - Los Angeles), and Zach Parise (A - Minnesota) as Sioux alums wearing letters in the NHL. Drew Stafford is no longer serving as an alternate captain for Buffalo.
• The Minnesota Wild season begins tonight against Los Angeles with Zach Parise and company wanting more for an encore to last season's first round playoff exit.
• The AJHL has opened voting in an effort to determine their Top 50 All-Time Players, and there is a big Sioux presence (including current captain Dillon Simpson) in the opening round of voting. 
• Matt Greene was a guest DJ for KCRW this week. Take a listen to his set.

Tuesday Morning Post

• Jason Gregoire has signed a one year deal with Södertälje of the Allsvenskan (Sweden Tier 2). He will be reunited with former Sioux and St. John's IceCap teammate Jake Marto, who signed with Södertälje earlier this summer.
• Brent Davidson has signed with Valpellice of Italy's elite league after spending last season with Herning (Denmark).
• The Hockey News featured former UND standout goaltender Darren Jensen in the print edition of its Backchecking segment several months ago, and it has recently found its way into the digital realm.
• Tony Hrkac will be inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame next month, joining fellow Sioux alum Greg Johnson, who was inducted in 2010.
• North Dakota goalie Zane Gothberg continues to impress Boston Bruins management.
• UND forward Rocco Grimaldi is on his way to building a big NHL future.
• UND sophomore forward Rebecca Kohler and incoming freshman defenseman Halli Krzyzaniak have been invited to Hockey Canada's National Women's Team Development Camp.
• A trio of UND commits are currently representing USA Hockey in the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Nick Schmaltz was named USA's Player of the Game in a 1-0 exhibition game victory over the Czech Republic Saturday while Austin Poganski and Ryan Mantha each picked up assists in yesterdays 3-2 OT loss to Finland. They resume play this morning at 7:00 AM CDT against Russia. Below are recent features on each UND commit:
• Nick Schmaltz
• Ryan Mantha
• Austin Poganski
• The Scouting Report is taking a look at some of the top USHL prospects for the 2014 NHL Draft and aside from the above feature on Schmaltz, Poganski and fellow UND commit Chris Wilkie were also recently highlighted.
• Incoming UND freshman defensemen Gage Ausmus and Keaton Thompson were invited to USA Hockey's National Junior Evaluation Camp, but they were both among the first round of cuts. They could potentially play themselves back into consideration with strong first halves to the NCAA season, and they will both be eligible for next year's World Junior Championship team as well.

Feeling a Draft: UND Draft Day Nuggets

The 2013 NHL Entry Draft begins today at 2:00 CDT and several UND commitments are expected to hear their names called through the seven round selection process. Here are the draft profiles of the UND players with the best chance of being selected today, as well as some draft day nuggets regarding the Fighting Sioux presence at the NHL Draft:

Gage Ausmus
Luke Johnson
Tucker Poolman
Adam Tambellini
Keaton Thompson

• A pair of incoming UND freshmen forwards are hoping to carry on the family tradition at today's draft. Grand Forks native Luke Johnson's father Steve was a supplemental pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 1987 while his uncle Chad was a 6th round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1988. Meanwhile, Adam Tambellini's father Steve was a 1st round pick of the New York Islanders in 1978 while brother Jeff was a 1st round selection of the Los Angeles Kings in 2003.
• Four current NHL franchises have never selected a UND player at the draft: Anaheim, Columbus, Minnesota, and Nashville. I have heard that Anaheim is high on incoming freshman defenseman Keaton Thompson, so perhaps he will become UND's first ever Duck draftee.
• The Fighting Sioux have had 154 players taken during the draft. The first player ever selected was Roger Bamburak, who was picked by the Boston Bruins in the 3rd round of the 1963 draft, which was the NHL's first ever Amateur Draft.
• UND has had 16 players taken during the draft's first round. The first was current Fargo Force head coach John Marks, who was taken 9th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1968. The most recent, of course, was current Sioux defenseman Jordan Schmaltz, who went 25th overall to St. Louis last year. Jonathan Toews is UND's highest-ever pick, going 3rd overall to Chicago in 2006.
• Ten of UND's 16 first round picks have come over the course of the past 10 drafts. UND had 6 first rounders in the first 39 years of the draft's history.
• UND has had at least one player selected in the draft in each of the past 14 years. The last time a UND player was not drafted was 1998.
• Chicago and Montreal have been the most active NHL franchises in terms of selecting UND players. They've each done so 13 times.
• The Vancouver Canucks have selected seven UND players at the draft, and all seven were picked over a three year span from 1987 through 1989.
• Calgary has selected five UND players, but none since 1986 when they chose Bemidji's George Pelawa 16th overall. Pelawa, who was Minnesota's Mr. Hockey in 1986, was killed in a car crash in late August of his freshman season at North Dakota. The NHL Network produced this video a couple of years ago, looking back at the Pelawa story:





2013 NHL Draft Profile: Gage Ausmus

With the 2013 NHL Entry Draft but a handful of days away, TOE will be providing draft profiles on UND's committed recruits who could hear their names called during Sunday's draft. First up is incoming freshman defense recruit Gage Ausmus of East Grand Forks, MN.
 

Photo by Tom Sorenson - usantdp.com

Player Profiles:

• TOE Recruit Profile: Gage Ausmus
• USA Hockey WJCEC Profile
• Minnesota Hockey Prospects 2013 NHL Draft Prospect

Player Rankings:

• No. 98: The Hockey News Draft Preview
• No. 104: The Hockey Writers
• No. 106: Hockey Prospectus
• No. 148: NHL Central Scouting (NAS)
• No. 153: North American Central Scouting
• No. 172: Hockey Prospect
• No. 178: Future Considerations
• No. 196: The Hockey Writers

What People Are Saying:

• The Hockey News: "Defensive defenseman brings bite; makes nice first pass."
• Hockey Buzz: "a steady defensive defenseman who plays an intelligent positional game with a bit of physicality."
• Future Considerations: "a gritty, hardworking defenseman...skates well and while he does not possess much offensive upside, he can move the puck efficiently."
• Hockey Prospect: "steady game with smart defensive positioning and safe plays with the puck...his end comes first, but if he sees a sure-thing opportunity to provide a little extra, he can do it...has the potential to be an NHL defenseman based on his humble approach and intelligence on the ice."

*Special thanks to these scouting services who granted permission to use their scouting reports for this profile series:
Hockey Prospect
Future Considerations

Recruit Profile: Gage Ausmus

Photo-USHL.com

Previous Team:  US National Team Dev. Program Under-18 Team
Arrival at UND: Fall 2013
Position:  Defense
Birthday:  April 22nd, 1995
Hometown:  East Grand Forks, MN
Height:  6'1"
Weight:  204
Shoots:  Left


Profiles & Press Clippings:

• USA Hockey NTDP 2012-13 Profile/Stat Page
• Elite Prospects Profile/Stat Page
• Brad Schlossman UND Hockey: Commitment Post (May 2013)
• Forum Communications: Ausmus Commits to UND (May 2013)
• United States of Hockey: World U-18 Championship Player Reports (May 2013)
• USA Hockey: Ausmus Grows to Become a More Complete Player (Nov 2012)
• 2013 NHL Entry Draft Prospect Profile
• Ranked #148 among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's 2013 Draft Prospect Final Rankings.

2012-13:

• Played in 66 games for the USA Hockey NTDP Under-18 Team, registering 14 points (2G, 12A) and a +22 rating.
• In April he helped Team USA earn silver at the Under-18 World Championships in Sochi, Russia. In seven tournament games he notched a pair of assists and a +5 rating.
• In February he & Team USA participated in the 2013 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament in Jonkoping, Sweden. He went pointless in four games as Team USA finished the tournament with a 2-2 record.
• In November he played on Team USA's gold-medal winning team at the 2012 Under-18 Four Nations Tournament in Ann Arbor, MI. He recorded zero points in four tournament games as Team USA finished with a 3-1 record.
• Along with fellow UND recruits Luke Johnson and Keaton Thompson, he participated in the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game September 29 in Buffalo, NY.

2011-12:

• He played for the USA Hockey NTDP Under-17 Team, producing six points (2G, 4A) in 59 games.
• Played on Team USA's silver medal winning team at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, earning All-Tournament honors.
• Played on Team USA's undefeated gold medal winning team at the 2011 Under-17 Four Nations Cup and had one goal and two assists in four games.
• In June of 2011 he attended USA Hockey's Select 16 Development Camp, where he earned All-Star honors. The US Hockey Report ranked him as the #16 defenseman at camp after picking up one assist in five games.

2010-11:

• As a sophomore at East Grand Forks (MN-HS), he recorded 12 points (4G, 8A) in 17 games.
• He participated in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League for Team Great Plains, registering two goals in 15 games.
• In July he attended the USA Hockey Select 15 Development Camp where he recorded one goal in five games. USHR ranked him as the #16 defenseman at camp, calling him an "Agile, athletic, physical defensive defenseman."