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.

Thursday Morning Post

• Senior forward Michelle Karvinen was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week following her strong performance in UND's road sweep of St. Cloud State. Karvinen picked up five points (4G, 1A) on the weekend and her seven goals on the season lead the nation.
• Karvinen will not be in the lineup when UND travels to Bemidji State this weekend. UND will also be without freshman forward Susanna Tapani and junior defenseman Johanna Fallman as all three will be preparing to compete in the women's Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, NY, November 5-9. Tapani and Karvinen will represent Finland, while Fallman will skate for Sweden. Also competing at the Four Nations will be Sioux alums and Team USA standouts Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux.
• The UND men's hockey Twitter account Tweeted yesterday that sophomore forward Drake Caggiula practiced without limitation. This is most certainly a positive sign for Caggiula, who took a nasty head-over-heels spill during Saturday's exhibition game against Team USA. Hopefully we will see him in the lineup this weekend against St. Cloud State.
• UND freshman defenseman Keaton Thompson was featured in his hometown newspaper yesterday.
• The coaching staff of the BCHL's Penticton Vees will be in Grand Forks this weekend to watch a number of their former players take to the ice at Engelstad Arena.
• Danny Kristo continues his strong play to start the AHL season. Last night he picked up a goal and two assists in Hartford's 5-3 win over Bridgeport, giving him twelve points (7G, 5A) in ten games. While Kristo's performance thus far is impressive, Blue Seat Blogs stresses the importance of patience in letting prospects develop at the proper level.
• Corban Knight notched a goal and an assist, including the overtime game winner, in Abbotsford's 5-4 win over Utica last night. He now has nine points (4G, 5A) in ten games, putting him right up there with Kristo among the AHL's top rookie scorers.
• The Ottawa Sun says Hockey Canada would do right in naming Jonathan Toews captain for the 2014 Winter Olympics, going so far as to call him "the best all-around player in the world."
• TJ Oshie is off to the best start of his career for the St. Louis Blues, having notched ten points (2G, 8A) in ten games with a +8 rating. The creative and relentless Oshie has helped drive the Blues towards the top of the Central Division with a refreshing dose of class.
• North Dakota recruit Rhett Gardner (Okotoks-AJHL) was named to Canada West's roster for the 2013 World Junior A Challenge. Gardner, part of UND's excellent class of 1996 birth-year commitments, was one of 13 forwards selected out of the 36 invited to camp.

Thursday Morning Coffee

• USCHO's This Week in the WCHA casts its spotlight on North Dakota captain Andrew MacWilliam, who head coach Dave Hakstol calls "a true throwback."
• Goon's World put together a feature on UND freshman Drake Caggiula, who had a big three goal series against Colorado College last weekend.
• The Hockey Writers have released their NCAA Women's Hockey Week 10 Recap, and they have North Dakota ranked No. 4 in the nation. UND junior Michelle Karvinen was also named the week's 2nd Star after her two goal, five assist weekend against RIT.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs' official website took a look at Matt Frattin's torrid goal scoring pace. As of this morning Frattin was the Maple Leaf website's lead story.
• The Edmonton Oilers' weekly notebook feature's former Sioux centerman Chris VandeVelde and the newest member of his family.
• Aeros.com did a short video interview with Houston Aeros defenseman Chay Genoway.
• TSN has an updated "Craig's List," which is scout Craig Button's player rankings for the 2013 NHL Draft. The initial list included Button's top 30 draft-eligible players, but the update has been expanded to the top 75. North Dakota recruit Keaton Thompson maintained his No. 24 ranking, while Luke Johnson made his debut on the list at No. 74.

International Break, etc.

The first international break for USA Hockey began this weekend, and North Dakota hockey connections abound. USA Hockey has put together a nice composite detailing all the action, and here are the specifics for the North Dakota contingent:

• Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux and the rest of the US Women's National Team will be taking part in the 2012 Women's Four Nations Cup November 5-10 in Kerava, Finland. The Four Nations field is comprised of the national teams from the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden, and in the 16 year history of the event only Canada (12) and the USA (4) have won gold. Team USA is the defending champion. North Dakota's Michelle Karvinen (Finland) and Johanna Fallman (Sweden) are also regular members of their respective national teams, but they have both been battling injuries this season and I do not believe they will be participating in the Four Nations.
• Also traveling abroad will be North Dakota recruit Chris Wilkie. Wilkie and the NTDP Under-17 team will be competing in the 2012 U-17 Four Nations Tournament in Monthey, Switzerland November 7-11. Team USA is the four-time defending champion, and the Americans are currently riding a 12 game winning streak at this event. The action gets underway Wednesday with a pre-tournament game against Switzerland, with their first tournament game coming Friday against Slovakia. 
• Keaton Thompson and the NTDP Under-18 team will be hosting the 2012 U-18 Four Nations Tournament November 6-10 in Ann Arbor, MI. Team USA is the four-time defending champion, having won 14 straight tournament games at the event. Their last loss came against Switzerland in 2007. The Americans begin play Tuesday against Finland, and all tournament games can be streamed via Fast Hockey (pay-per-view). 
• The 2012 World Junior A Challenge started up this weekend with a trio of exhibition games. The tournament officially starts tomorrow in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and runs through the gold medal game on Sunday, November 11. UND recruit Wade Murphy will be playing with Canada West while Luke Johnson is on the Team USA roster. Team USA will see its first action tomorrow against Canada East while Canada West opens its play Tuesday against the Czech Republic. Team USA placed third last season after winning the event three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010. All WJAC tournament games can be streamed free-of-charge at Fast Hockey. This tournament provides very high-quality action, so the free streaming should help scratch that mid-week hockey itch brought on by the NHL lockout.
• UND recruit Halli Krzyzaniak will serve as team captain for Manitoba at Canada's 2012 National Women's Under-18 Championship in Dawson Creek, BC. The tournament begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday, November 11.

Sunday Morning Coffee

• UND held its annual Night of Champions award program last week and junior forward Jocelyne Lamoureux was named the 2011-12 Female Athlete of the Year. Also earning recognition were Brad Eidsness, the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and Michelle Karvinen, the Female Rookie of the Year.
• In the latest episode of UND Sports TV former Sioux Brad Malone talked about his first season in the professional ranks while Danny Kristo discussed his decision to return to North Dakota for his senior season. The Malone segment opens episode 32.2 and Kristo's segment comes at the 2:00 minute mark of episode 32.3 on this page. 
• The Rat Trick, a Florida Panthers blog, ranked its top 20 forwards from the 2011-12 season, and Zach Parise and Jonathan Toews both made the list.

NHL Playoff Update:

• Following Friday night's 1-0 victory over Nashville, Dave Tippett and the Phoenix Coyotes are one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals. The Coyotes hold a 3-1 series lead and will look to finish off the Predators Monday night when the series returns to Phoenix for game five.
• With a commanding 3-0 series lead, the Los Angeles Kings will look to sweep their way into the Western Conference Finals when they host game four against TJ Oshie and the St. Louis Blues this afternoon. Matt Greene, who Blues coach Ken Hitchcock says is among a trio of Kings defenders who is "no fun to play against," is among the postseason leaders in shorthanded ice time, and the Kings' penalty killing unit has been perfect in killing all 14 of St. Louis's power play opportunities in the series.
• The New Jersey Devils will attempt to take a 3-1 series lead on Philadelphia when they host game four tonight. Zach Parise says the Devils' playoff run has been a blast, while teammate Patrik Elias says this edition of the Devils has an ingredient that's been missing in recent years, and part of that is due to the versatility of guys like himself and Parise. Backhand Shelf considers Parise to be New Jersey's leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy, while the outstanding New Jersey Devils blog In Lou We Trust takes a deeper look at Travis Zajac's impressive postseason performance.

AHL Playoff Update:

• Oklahoma City evened its second round series against San Antonio at one game a piece via a 5-4 OT win last night. Chris VandeVelde staked Oklahoma City to a 1-0 lead in the first period with his first goal of the playoffs. The series resumes Monday night in San Antonio when VandeVelde and Taylor Chorney will look to help the Barons take a 2-1 series lead. If you want to see VandeVelde's goal, go to the 0:25 mark of the following game recap video:

• After dropping the first game of their second round series against Abbotsford the Toronto Marlies have bounced back with two straight wins to take a 2-1 series lead. The Marlies won last night's game three by a 4-1 margin, and former Sioux Matt Frattin scored the game-winner for the second straight game. He now has six points (4G, 2A) in six playoff games, and you can check out his latest goal right here:

• St John's (Jason Gregoire, Jake Marto) leads their series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2-1, with game four scheduled for this afternoon.

USHL Playoff Update:

• Lincoln split a pair of games with Waterloo over the weekend and now trail the Black Hawks 2-1 in the best-of-five Western Conference finals. Sioux recruits Luke Johnson (1G, +1) and Paul LaDue (1A, +2) each chipped in on the Stars' 4-3 victory Friday night, while Waterloo bounced back with a 5-0 shutout last night. The Stars will look to extend the series to a decisive fifth game when the two teams play game four tomorrow night in Waterloo.
• Green Bay defeated Indiana 3-2 Friday night to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals. Sioux recruit Jordan Schmaltz continued his stellar postseason play by contributing an assist and a +3 rating. Schmaltz is second among all USHL defensemen in both +/- rating (+9) and points (2G, 3A) during the postseason. The Gamblers will go for the sweep this afternoon.