Miles Koules announced via Twitter yesterday that he has opted to play for the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers next season. The one-time committed Sioux recruit is the third US NTDP alum in the past nine months to back-out of a commitment to play for North Dakota in order to jump to Candian major juniors, joining JT Miller and Stefan Matteau. An increased opportunity for ice-time and game action factored into his change of plans, and expect more on the reasoning behind Koules' decision Monday.
Round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs fired up Friday night, and Dave Tippett's Phoenix Coyotes went to overtime, again, before taking game one from Nashville 4-3. Here are Tippett's postgame comments:
Former Sioux captain Matt Greene and the Los Angeles Kings, the Western Conference's eighth seed, continued their strong postseason run by defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 last night. Greene became the unlikely hero when he scored the shorthanded game-winning goal by "lumbering" up the ice and chipping in a Dustin Brown rebound. Greene's shorty was just the second postseason shorthanded goal by a defenseman in Kings' history, with Rob Blake scoring the other back in 1993. TJ Oshie assisted on the lone goal for St. Louis, while Chris Porter did not dress. Check out Greene's goal right here:
The New Jersey Devils open their second round series against Philadelphia this afternoon, and Devil head coach Peter DeBoer has decided to shake up his line combinations, including moving captain Zach Parise to the second line. The move is intended to spark the second line, which was relatively quiet in the first round, as Parise makes a lot of plays that can get a team headed in the right direction. Meanwhile Travis Zajac, who was one of the first round's standouts, could be the "X-Factor" against the Flyers.
AHL Playoff Update:
Five former Sioux remain standing after the first round of the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs. The St. John's IceCaps (Jason Gregoire, Jake Marto) eliminated Syracuse (Matt Smaby) Friday night, though none of the trio of former Sioux played during the series. Oklahoma City (Chris VandeVelde, Taylor Chorney) and Toronto (Matt Frattin) have also advanced to the conference semifinals, which begin Tuesday.
USHL Playoff Updates:
Lincoln (Paul LaDue, Luke Johnson) eliminated Fargo (Zane Gothberg, Bryn Chyzyk) with a 3-2 overtime victory Friday night. The Stars move on to the Western Conference Finals, where they will face the Waterloo Blackhawks, who feature a potential Sioux recruit in defenseman Ian McCoshen. Earlier this season McCoshen said he had narrowed his collegiate choices down to Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, and North Dakota. The schedule has not yet been set for this series, but as the top seed in the conference, Lincoln will have the home-ice advantage.
Despite the loss, Gothberg had what is probably the best season between the pipes in the short history of the Fargo Force franchise, and Slightly Chilled touched upon what Gothberg meant to his team. He finished the postseason with a 1.78 GAA and .942 Save % in six games, and expect to hear his name called when the USHL hands out its regular season awards.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Indiana Ice will be taking on the Green Bay Gamblers and Sioux recruit Jordan Schmaltz. That series begins Thursday in Green Bay.
Chris Porter played two games in Peoria (AHL) over the NHL All-Star break and Blues' head coach Ken Hitchcock's analysis was that the former Sioux captain needed to get after the puck a bit more. Porter listened, and Hitchcock said he was "by far" St. Louis' best player Saturday against Nashville. He is slated to skate on the third line tonight with Chris Stewart and Vladimir Sobotka when St. Louis visits Ottawa. Porter, by the way, will become an unrestricted free agent this summer unless St. Louis extends him. In other Blues news, there has been some speculation that St. Louis could be looking to add some offensive punch prior to the trade deadline, but one observer says the Blues should not mortgage the future. That future certainly includes TJ Oshie, who along with David Backes, was called the heart and soul of the team.
Michael Forney was called up to the AHL's St. John's IceCaps yesterday, and he is in the lineup tonight against Providence. Forney has had a strong season with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL) as he is tied for fourth on the team with 37 points (13G, 24A) in 44 games. Forney has two assists in 12 career games in the AHL, all with the Chicago Wolves. In some bad news out of St. John's, Jason Gregoire reportedly suffered what is considered to be a long-term shoulder injury.
Jonathan Toews was the third overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, but according to Doug McIntyre of ESPN, he would go number one overall if teams had it to do over again. The full version of the article is only available to ESPN Insider subscribers. Toews and the Blackhawks will look to end their recent swoon tonight when they resume their lengthy road trip against Colorado.
Travis Zajac is scheduled to have his ailing Achilles tendon evaluated in Winnipeg Wednesday. Zajac has appeared in just eight games this season for New Jersey after suffering the Achilles injury during the offseason.
NHL.com recently published a feature on UND's leading goal scorer Brock Nelson, saying the big winger is excelling at North Dakota.
Highly regarded 1995-born defenseman Ian McCoshen of the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) has narrowed his collegiate choices down to four schools, one of which is North Dakota. The Hudson, WI native is also considering Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, and his homestate Wisconsin Badgers.
Recruit Jordan Schmaltz and the Green By Gamblers will be entertaining Waterloo in a Tuesday evening USHL tilt. Schmaltz is second among USHL defensemen in scoring this season with 25 points, trailing Omaha's Nolan Zajac by just one point despite having played seven fewer games. NHL.com has also updated it's three 2012 mock drafts, and Schmaltz checks in at #23 on Steve Hoffner's and #28 on Adam Kimelman's.
A pair of Sioux recruits are currently overseas, preparing to take part in some international competition. Miles Koules and the Team USA Under-18ers are in Finland for the Under-18 Five Nations Tournament, while Keaton Thompson and the U-17ers are in Slovakia for the Vlad Dzurilla Tournament. The Under-17 team opens play Thursday morning against Switzerland, while the Under-18 team opens the Five Nations Tournament against the Czech Republic Thursday afternoon. Both squads will be looking to defend titles as Team USA went undefeated in each of these events last year.
