Sunday Afternoon Post

• The Edmonton Journal says that North Dakota senior Dillon Simpson has worked his way into becoming a solid Oiler prospect who possesses top-four NHL potential as a complete defenseman. 
• Sioux alums Zach Parise, Jonathan Toews, and TJ Oshie are among the Canadian and American Olympic hopefuls who will be attending Olympic orientation camps this week. Parise and Toews are all but locks to appear in their second consecutive Olympic tournament, while Oshie is a player who, with a strong NHL first half, could earn his way onto Team USA as a bottom six winger. This week's orientation camps will not include any on-ice activity for either nation as the cost of insuring the attendees' NHL contracts is too great.
• As part of its "30 in 30" series, NHL.com says Travis Zajac is the New Jersey Devils' X-Factor and that he must produce offensively for the Devils to achieve team success this season. His importance to the team became even more important when star winger Ilya Kovalchuk opted to return home to Russia to play in the KHL. 
• Former Sioux defenseman Aaron Schneekloth has opted to retire after twelve professional seasons. Schneekloth, the ECHL's Defenseman of the Year just two seasons ago, will remain with the ECHL's Colorado Eagles as an assistant coach. He spent the final seven seasons of his career with Colorado.
• According to a German sports website, former Sioux goaltender Jordan Parise is retiring after seven professional seasons. He spent last season with Valpellice of the Italian elite league, posting a 2.87 GAA and .906 save percentage.
• The Los Angeles Kings Rookie Camp starts next Wednesday (Sept 4) and Derek Forbort will be in attendance. While he is expected to spend this season with Manchester (AHL), Kings executive Mike O'Connell says he expects Forbort to play with bigger goals in mind.
• North Dakota goaltending commit Cam Johnson was interviewed during the Fargo Force (USHL) tryout camp this week. Here's the video of the brief interview: