Wednesday Morning Post

• Junior forward Mark MacMillan is set to take on a significant leadership and scoring role for UND this season, an opportunity he is relishing.
• Senior defenseman Dillon Simpson came in at number 13 on the Copper and Blue blog's "Top 25 Oilers Under 25" rankings.
• The Ontario Reign (ECHL) caught up with the recently re-signed Mario Lamoureux, who is looking to build on last season's outstanding All-Rookie performance.
• Michael Forney had a terrific summer playing hockey Down Under. He now goes from Australia to Austria, as he will join former Sioux teammate JP Lamoureux on Villacher of the Austrian elite league.
• UND recruits Austin Poganski, Nick Schmaltz, Ryan Mantha and the rest of Team USA pulled out a clutch win yesterday at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, beating Russia 4-2 in pool play. Schmaltz scored a goal and added two assists in the victory, which put the Americans in solid position to advance to the tournament semifinals. They take on Slovakia later this morning (10:30 AM CDT), and a win would vault them into Friday's semifinal round. The UND contingent, by the way, has factored in on five of the six goals Team USA has scored in pool play and Schmaltz is tied for the tournament lead with three points (1G, 2A) in two games.
• McKeen's Hockey has released its Top 30 Prospects for the 2014 NHL Draft, and Schmaltz comes in at number 14. Future Considerations, meanwhile, has Poganski (number 26) in its preliminary rankings. Poganski is also the main feature of The Hockey News' most recent edition of The Hot List, and he says his "hardcore, blue collar" game will fit right in with UND's style of play.

NHL.com's "30 in 30" series is underway and a few Sioux alums have been featured thus far:

• Corban Knight is ranked as a top 5 prospect for the Calgary Flames.
• Derek Forbort came in at number five among Los Angeles' top prospects.
• Where does the newly acquired Matt Frattin fit in with the Los Angeles Kings?

Friday Morning Coffee

• Former Sioux captain Chris Porter became the 12th Sioux alum to play in the NHL this season when he made his season debut for the St. Louis Blues last night. Porter, TJ Oshie, and the rest of his teammates were singin' the Blues last night as they became the latest victim in the Chicago Blackhawks' historic start. Jonathan Toews scored twice in helping the 'Hawks earn at least one point in their 20th consecutive game. Chicago has not suffered a regular season regulation loss in nearly one calendar year, a stretch that dates back to March 26 of last season, and leading the way for the Blackhawks is a core of young stars.
• Travis Zajac played in his native Winnipeg last night for the first time as a professional, but the Devils were handed a 3-1 loss by the hometown Jets.
• Matt Frattin's NHL season was off to a fine start prior to being sidelined by minor knee surgery. He's on his way to a full recovery, but it will still be a few days before he returns to the lineup.
• Mike Commodore has yet to find an NHL home this season, but he's been trying to keep sharp by skating with an Alberta college team.
• It's a couple of months old, but former Sioux fan favorite Rastislav Spirko took part in a nice Q&A in which he talked about his time at North Dakota.
• Brett Hextall recently displayed his boxing skills in what was an impressive scrap:

• In the midst of a fine season, North Dakota junior defenseman Dillon Simpson is following in his father's footsteps. The Edmonton draft pick also took part in a Q&A with the Oiler blog Copper & Blue, which ranked him as the 12th best Oiler under the age of 25. Coming in at twelve is very solid considering the Oilers' bevy of young stars.
• UND sophomore Mark MacMillan is a Montreal Canadiens' prospect who is perhaps flying under the radar. 

 

Tuesday Morning Coffee

• All Habs Magazine recently ran a nice feature on North Dakota forward Mark MacMillan, whom Montreal selected in the 4th round on the 2010 NHL Draft.
• USA Hockey is set to release its World Junior Championship preliminary roster this morning, and the United States of Hockey expects North Dakota forward Rocco Grimaldi to be on the list. Team USA's pre-tournament camp begins December 16 and the WJC begins December 26 in Ufa, Russia. The tournament runs through the gold medal game Januray 5th.
• The International Ice Hockey Federation has published a series of articles examining the role of college hockey within the overall bounds of the sport. On the men's side they covered the NCAA's increased ability to develop professional players, while they also examined the elite level of play NCAA women's ice hockey brings to the international stage. UND women's coaches Brian Idalski and Peter Elander are prominently featured in the women's article.
• Despite playing in just eight of Toronto's 21 games this season, Matt Frattin is tied for the Marlies' team lead in goals with seven. The Winnipeg Sun took a look at his strong return from injury, while TSN says the former Sioux star has a lot of extra eyes watching him.
• Norfolk Admiral teammates Matt Smaby and Emerson Etem share the Shattuck-St. Mary's connection.
• Jonathan Toews will be part of the group of players that will meet with team owners in the hopes of  breaking the NHL lockout stalemate. Toews recently commented that the players refuse to get pushed around by the owners.
• Looking past the lockout and the all-too-real possibility of the cancellation of the entire season, Sportsnet has listed some of the top potential free agents for 2013, and Travis Zajac is in their group.
• The always entertaining Mike Commodore spent an hour discussing a wide range of topics on the Cabbie Podcast.
• UND recruit Christian Evers and the Omaha AAA U-16 Lancers rolled through the NAPHL Blaine Showcase this weekend with a 5-0 record, outscoring their opponents 24-4 along the way. Evers, a 6'4" 195 pound defenseman, finished the showcase with five assists in five games. The Lancers, who have yet to lose an NAPHL game this season, are coached by David Wilkie, the father of North Dakota recruit and current USNTDP Under-17 team forward Chris Wilkie.

Weekend Musings

A few thoughts on this past weekend's hockey action at REA. First for the men (to be taken with one, maybe two grains of salt considering it was an exhibition game):

• Danny Kristo and Corban Knight have developed some great chemistry. The top line is going to be really tough to stop considering what those two bring to the table, and it will be interesting to see who becomes the regular left winger. Freshman Drake Caggiula performed admirably in flanking Knight’s left-side against Manitoba, but my guess is that we will see someone else get that assignment Friday night against Team USA.
• Kristo was the best player on the ice Saturday night and he appears poised for a monster season. He is electric and he seems to have gotten stronger over the summer as Manitoba was unable to move him off the puck. He is going to be very difficult for opposing teams to contain this year.
• This weekend marked the much anticipated return to the lineup for Rocco Grimaldi, and he did not disappoint. He had the crowd buzzing on numerous occasions with his playmaking and creativity, and it didn’t take long to realize that he is a very special talent. Just how good will he be this year? My guess is that he is going to have the most productive offensive season by a North Dakota freshman since Zach Parise.
• The RPM Line was in effect for the exhibition opener. I'm a big fan of keeping this line together considering how they played down the stretch last season. Of course, the enthusiasm was dampened when Michael Parks left the ice with an apparent lower body injury, but Mark MacMillan, Carter Rowney, and Parks all looked really good.
• As expected, defenseman Joe Gleason returned to his natural position. He did a very nice job filling in upfront last season for a shorthanded team, but he is more of a difference maker on the backend.

Now for the women, who bounced back from Friday's heartbreaking loss with a solid overall performance Saturday afternoon:

• In addition to what the top line will be expected to create, North Dakota should have some good offensive depth this season. They will be able to roll out three lines capable of regularly generating offensive opportunities.
• Shelby Amsley-Benzie looked confident in net and played good all weekend.
• Leah Jensen did a nice job playing right-wing with the Lamoureux sisters, picking up her first career goal Saturday by getting to the net and knocking home a rebound.
• It didn’t take too long to realize that freshman winger Becca Kohler has a fantastic shot. She can really unwind on the puck.
• Meghan Dufault is a dynamic player and though she didn’t find her way onto the scoresheet, she created some nice opportunities and was hard to knock off the puck.

Kristo, Dell, MacMillan Go Camping

Danny Kristo, Mark MacMillan, and Aaron Dell all took part in the Montreal Canadiens pre-draft Development Camp that ran from last Wednesday through Saturday. AllHabs.net (@All_Habs) provided great coverage of the event over all four days, and from their reports Kristo and Dell appeared to have fine camps. In their camp awards they recognized Kristo as being the Best Skater and having the Best Hands, and in the camp scrimmage he was named the game’s #1 Star after producing a goal and an assist for the victorious White Team. Here is what they had to say about the dynamic North Dakota forward in their post-camp wrap-up:  

“may have been the player of the game, demonstrating his raw speed and soft hands, scoring once. To a certain extent, Kristo has flown under the radar with fans and media in Montreal but until help arrives in the form of the No. 3 pick at the 2012 Entry Draft, the Fighting Sioux right-winger is the Habs most-promising forward prospect. Kristo will head back to the University of North Dakota for his senior year in the Fall in pursuit of an NCAA championship.”

Dell also had a solid camp, earning this review of his play:

“In camp Dell demonstrated why he had such a successful NCAA career with solid positioning. He could improve his rebound control but was willing to be a battle to make the save when caught out of position.”

Also of note, Dell closed out the weekend by not allowing any goals during the end of camp shootout.

Sunday Afternoon Post, Part 2

And serving number two:

• Danny Kristo's play this season has reminded Montreal Canadien fans of why the team selected him with the 56th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Kristo and Mark MacMillan were also part of The Montreal Gazette's look at the Canadien prospects participating in the NCAA Tournament.
• Former Sioux All-American John Marks says his current job as head coach of the USHL's Fargo Force is the best gig he's had in awhile.
• Recruit Zane Gothberg posted his USHL-leading sixth shutout of the season Friday night as the Fargo Force beat Des Moines 2-0. He is also second in the league in GAA (2.29) and Save Percentage (.919), and he had been riding a scoreless streak that ended at 154:49 when Des Moines scored a first period goal last night in a 4-2 Force win.
• Recruit Drake Caggiula and the Stouffville Spirit continue their strong run in the OJHL playoffs. They've won their first two series, and currently lead Georgetown 2-1 in the Northwest Conference Finals, with game four of the the best-of-7 series scheduled for tonight. Individually, Caggiula has had very nice postseason thus far, ranking third among OJHL playoff scorers with 20 points (9G, 11A) in 13 games.
• Adam Tambellini was recently named the Vernon Vipers' Rookie of the Year. The Sioux recruit finished the BCHL season as the Vipers' third leading scorer, averaging more than a point-per-game with 56 points (27G, 29A) in 55 contests. Tambellini and fellow North Dakota recruit Geoff Crisfield are part of a strong core expected to return to Vernon next season.
• Defenseman recruit and potential first-round 2012 NHL Draft pick Jordan Schmaltz was recently profiled by The Hockey Writers, who had a lot of nice things to say about the current Green Bay Gambler.
• Recruit Chris Wilkie was an invitee of the 2012 US National Team Development Program Evaluation Camp, which took place in Ann Arbor, MI last week. The evaluation camp is a major part of the process of building the USA Hockey Under-17 team roster. Results and reports from the evaluation camp will be passed along as they become available.

Here are a few links that have recently trickled in related to items covered in the post from earlier today:

• Travis Zajac says he is excited to be making his return to the New Jersey lineup.
• Jonathan Toews says his recovery from a concussion is "probably the most frustrating thing" he's had to go through.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs assigned a pair of forwards to their AHL affiliate today, likely signaling a return to the lineup for Matt Frattin Tuesday night when the Leafs take on Carolina.
• Chris VandeVelde made his NHL season debut this afternoon, and in the midst of Edmonton's five-goal, second period onslaught, he scored his first career NHL goal. He is the 16th former Sioux to play for an NHL club this season. Here's the goal:

Fighting Sioux vs. Michigan Tech: Notes & Links

North Dakota vs. Michigan Tech - Series Notes & Links

• Friday 7:37 CST/Saturday 7:07 CST
• The games will be broadcast on a variety of media outlets across the region. Here's the standard Broadcast Information.
• Brad Schlossman's Friday Morning Reading
• Series Notes: North Dakota and Michigan Tech  
• The Dakota Student: High Stakes vs. MTU
• The Daily Mining Gazette: Tech Sees New Sioux
• A College Hockey News feature from a couple of weeks ago details Michigan Tech's resurgence this season. 
• The Huskies are a well-balanced bunch up front. They have nine forwards who have produced at least 12 points this season. By comparison, the Sioux have five forwards who have reached that mark. On the back-end however, just one Tech player has reached 12 points while five Sioux defensemen have done so. These numbers, by the way, include Joe Gleason as a defenseman even though he has recently been playing up front more often than on the blue line.
• Speaking of Gleason, the junior "jack-of-all-trades" has been on a nice run lately. He has ten points (0G, 10A) in his last ten games after registering just three assists in his first 18.
• After being held to just one point last weekend (a Brock Nelson goal Saturday night), expect UND's Knight Line of Nelson, Corban Knight, and Danny Kristo to have a big series.
• In UND's eleven team games played since the Christmas break, nobody has more points than Carter Rowney's 12 (7G, 5A). Kristo has 11 (5G, 6A) while Nelson (6G, 4A) and Gleason (0G, 10A) each have 10.
• Once the dust settles after this weekend's play we should see some separation in the race for playoff home-ice. Sitting in sixth place with 24 points, North Dakota currently holds a one point edge on seventh place Michigan Tech. Meanwhile, the two teams immediately ahead of UND in the standings, Colorado College and Nebraska-Omaha, are facing-off this weekend in Colorado Springs. Both the Tigers and Mavericks hold a one point edge on the Sioux. Bemidji State (at Minnesota) and St. Cloud State (vs. Alaska-Anchorage) each trail North Dakota by three points.
• Sioux Sports says that UND's national tournament hopes would really be bolstered with a weekend sweep.
• The UND Sports Spotlight was recently shining on freshman winger Mark MacMillan:

• USCHO's This Week in the WCHA
• USCHO's Weekend Picks
• CHN's Tale of the Tape
• CHN's WCHA Power Rankings
• WCHA Weekly Press Release
• Inside Hockey Series Preview
• Sioux Sports Series Preview 
• Episode 15 of Through These Doors:

Week 9 Recap: Sioux Take Two From UAA

One week after its offensive coming out party, the Fighting Sioux men's hockey team traveled to the far north to take on the University of Alaska-Anchorage. In what is always a very difficult road trip, the Sioux were able to return to the lower 48 with a second consecutive 4 point sweep, a sweep that has propelled them into a fourth place tie in the WCHA standings. Friday night saw North Dakota jump on the Seawolves early and often, busting out to a 3-0 lead within the game's first 10 minutes en route to a 5-2 win. The Sioux were unable to replicate the explosive first period Saturday night, opting instead for a three goal second period that keyed a 4-1 victory. Some observations:

• This was obviously a significant sweep, as the team was focused on avoiding a let-down following a raucous and wildly entertaining sweep against Colorado College the weekend prior. The mantra of "no more steps back" was certainly adhered to in Anchorage.
• Even though the team sits in a tie for fourth in the conference standings, both CC and Denver have two games in hand on the Sioux. That being said, the consecutive sweeps have brought North Dakota back into the top 6, thus positioning itself for home-ice in the 1st round of the WCHA playoffs.
• I feel like I'm repeating myself (and I promise I'm not just doing the old cut and paste from previous recaps), but the top line was outstanding yet again. Brock Nelson continues to rack up the goals at a pace even quicker than Matt Frattin did a year ago, and Danny Kristo demonstrated how to effectively turn a 2-on-5 rush into a goal for the good guys. Also, the New York Islanders' statistician took a closer look at Nelson's productivity this season.
• Freshmen Mark MacMillan, Brendan O'Donnell, and Michael Parks were on the same line again this weekend, and they accounted for two of Friday's five goals. Even strength goals from lines two through four will be a very significant factor in the team's success this season, and consistent production from the freshman line would be invaluable. 
• Brad Eidsness and Aaron Dell split the goaltending duties, and both responded with solid performances. Dell appeared to be a bit sharper than Eidsness, but by no means is that a knock on Eidsness' performance; Dell was just really, really good Saturday.
• The defensive corps, led by a dominant Ben Blood, is really coming into its own. It is quickly becoming the unit everyone thought it would be heading into the season.
• Mario Lamoureux is about as tough as they come. His ability to play through pain is definitely part of the reason he wears the C.
• And last but not least, how about that power play unit? The Sioux converted five of their eleven man-advantage opportunities, good for a sizzling 45% clip.

Other Tidbits:

• Derek Forbort was named to Team USA's World Junior Championship preliminary roster. Team USA's camp will run from December 16-22 in Camrose, Alberta, while the tournament itself runs from December 26 through January 5 in Calgary and Edmonton. Forbort was a member of last year's bronze medal winning team, and that experience makes him a likely candidate to make the final roster again this year. A healthy Rocco Grimaldi would have been a virtual shoe-in to make the team, but he is still several weeks away from returning to action.
• I have started posting recruit profiles under The Recruits page. Drake Caggiula, Paul LaDue, and Geoff Crisfield have been profiled thus far, and I will continue posting the profiles in reverse chronological order of their commitments, as time allows. There are ten more recruits to go, with USNTDP Under-17er Luke Voltin next on the list.

Week 8 Recap: Sioux Sweep Colorado College

This is the first weekly recap I've done in a few weeks due to an off-week and a non-televised series (the split at Bemidji State). The plan is to get caught up with all the happenings of Sioux men's hockey over the course of the week, including a host of future and former Sioux updates. Today I offer up the recap of this weekend's Fighting Sioux series, while the updates pertaining to the former Sioux and Sioux commitments will come over the course of the next few days.

North Dakota entered the weekend looking to shake itself of the offensive funk it had been in, and they did just that by scoring 11 goals en route to a sweep of the #4 ranked Colorado College Tigers. Friday night saw the Fighting Sioux hang a touchdown on the Tigers in a wildly entertaining 7-6 victory, while Saturday saw the team complete the sweep with a solidly played 4-3 victory. It was a much-needed conference sweep for the Sioux, and here are a few observations:

• The top line of Brock Nelson, Corban Knight, and Danny Kristo was phenomenal, accounting for 16 points (7G, 9A) on the weekend. Kristo was electrifying all weekend, making plays all over the ice, while Nelson continued his breakout sophomore season with a 6 point (3G, 3A) weekend, showing very nice hands both offensively and defensively. Knight won 35 of 57 faceoffs (61.4%), which was big considering the proven ability of the Tigers to quickly turn faceoff wins into offensive chances.
• Brendan O' Donnell, who I heard was very active during the Bemidji State series, continued his strong play since his return from injury. He was very noticeable this weekend, as was fellow freshman Michael Parks, and the line of O'Donnell-Mark MacMillan-Parks looked very good Saturday even though they were held off the scoresheet. Offense from these three freshman will be key with Rocco Grimaldi sidelined until at least January.
• Derek Rodwell got his first goal of the year Saturday night by deflecting a Ben Blood point shot past CC goaltender Joe Howe with under 18 seconds left in the first period. Rodwell is a tireless worker and it was very nice to see his effort rewarded with a momentum swinging goal.
• Even though CC scored 9 goals this weekend, I didn't think the goaltending of Aaron Dell was all that bad. The goals CC scored were, for the most part, goals you can't always expect a goaltender to stop. That being said, Brad Eidsness relieved Dell after CC's 6th goal Friday night and he helped stymy the Tiger attack. 
• Derek Forbort, with some crisp passing and sharp stick work, was solid this weekend and Joe Gleason continues to put forth strong efforts, whether it be as a forward or a blueliner.
• Some of the opportunistic goals opponents were scoring on the Sioux earlier in the year started going North Dakota's way. The team capitalized on several opportunistic chances this weekend and those goals went an awful long way in securing the sweep.
• As for the Tigers, Rylan Schwartz stole the show with back-to-back hat tricks, but younger brother Jaden was equally fantastic. His puck possession and passing skills are elite, making CC's top line a real treat to watch.

Week 4 Recap (Part 1): Sioux Split

Following their first road trip of the season North Dakota returned home to Engelstad Arena for a weekend pair with St. Cloud State, and the Sioux wound up with a split as SCSU rode a red-hot goaltender to a 4-0 victory Friday night and North Dakota produced its best defensive performance of the season to earn a 3-1 win on Saturday.

• Friday night saw North Dakota throw everything including the kitchen sink at Husky freshman goaltender Ryan Faragher, but he turned away each of the 44 shots he faced in place of the injured Mike Lee. It was the second consecutive game that saw UND offensively dominate yet come away without a conference point. As I was walking away from the Kohl Center following the Saturday night loss to Wisconsin I commented that I'd take that type of offensive performance every game because the Sioux would win 90% of those games. Apparently the hockey gods decided to test (and quickly debunk) my theory the very next game.
• The Sioux outshot SCSU 39-16 through two periods, and though SCSU led 1-0 it certainly felt like the second goal of the game was going to be the dagger. And it was. When the Huskies scored less than three minutes into the third, the arena and everything in it not draped in red & black seemed to instantly deflate. The building was ready to erupt with a NoDak goal, but that energy was sapped when they fell behind 2-0.
• As alluded to earlier, Husky goaltender Ryan Faragher was sensational Friday night. Saturday at Wisconsin Joel Rumpel played a great game that was aided quite a bit by his defense. Faragher's performance, on the other hand, was a case where a goaltender virtually stole a game all on his own as SCSU saddled him with a lot of shorthanded minutes and he responded beautifully.
• Defensive responsibility was much improved this weekend. The forwards did a much better job at getting back defensively and occupying SCSU in transition. One play that really comes to mind was an odd-man chance in the second period of Saturday's game. Mike Parks was leading the Sioux rush, and when SCSU was able to successfully defend and turn the play up-ice, Parks (who ended up behind the net) was the first forward back and helped break up a Husky chance.
• As it turns out, a doubtful Rocco Grimaldi is pretty dang good. He ended up with one assist on the weekend, and he's one of the rare, electric players that leaves you holding your breath whenever he possesses the puck. When he's fully healthy, watch out.
• Saturday night, there were a few cases where the team seemed to have some trouble passing out of the defensive zone, and the third line (MacMillan-Grimaldi-Gleason) got stuck on a couple extended shifts as a result. 
• The goaltending of Aaron Dell was solid and he's showing signs of returning to his sophomore form. However, I sit on the end that the visitors attack twice and at times it seemed as though he might've been struggling with tracking the puck.
• Look for Grimaldi to start seeing some time on the penalty kill as he works his way back into full health and game shape. He has a solid reputation of being a forechecking nuisance/point hound on the PK.
• I really liked the second line on Saturday night. Lamoureux-Rowney-Rodwell went up against the LeBlanc line much of the night and did a great job defensively.

The weekly recap of former Sioux in the pros and Sioux recruits, along with a few other items, will be on the docket for tomorrow. The steady stream of trick-or-treaters severely cut into the writing time tonight.  

Fighting Sioux vs. St. Cloud State Notes & Links

North Dakota vs. St. Cloud State - Series Notes & Links:

• Gametime: Friday 7:37 CDT/Saturday 7:07 CDT
• The games will be broadcast on a variety of media outlets across the region. As always, here's the standard broadcast information.
• Series notes in PDF: North Dakota and St. Cloud State
• There are some family ties being renewed this weekend. Mark MacMillan will be playing against his big brother Mitch, a Husky sophomore. The St. Cloud Times has a take on the MacMillans, as does The Dakota Student. Meanwhile, Brock Nelson and Jordy Christian, a Husky senior, are cousins. Jordy's father, Ed, played for North Dakota from 1980-84.
• Rocco Grimaldi's status for the weekend is doubtful, while fellow freshman Brendan O'Donnell will not be available. Both players have lower body injuries. 
• The Fighting Sioux received word today that the NCAA has ruled Colten St. Clair ineligible to play this season. No specifics have been released as to why he did not make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse, but there have been rumblings that there is some online coursework that has come under scrutiny.
• Due to injury St. Cloud State's junior goaltender Mike Lee did not make the trip with the team this weekend. The Huskies will likely rely on freshman goaltender Ryan Faragher in net. Faragher spent the last two seasons playing just down I-94 West for the NAHL's Bismarck Bobcats.
• Danny Kristo is becoming a complete player as the team's top offensive threat. He was also named 2nd Star by Habs Future for his play last weekend at Wisconsin.
• St. Cloud State senior forward Drew LeBlanc is approaching 100 career points. Let's hope it doesn't happen this weekend.
• This is the first series of the season in which the Fighting Sioux will face a future NCHC foe.
• GF Herald's Ice Time
• USCHO's This Week in the WCHA
• USCHO's Weekend Picks 
• INCH's This Week in the WCHA

Recruit Rankings & Ryan Duncan, Matt Frattin Have Big Days

Inside College Hockey has released its annual recruiting class rankings, and the Fighting Sioux freshman are regarded as the second best group in the nation. Rocco Grimaldi, Nick Mattson, and Mark MacMillan are also included in the individual rankings. Check them out:
Top 15 Freshman Classes
Top 20 Forwards
Top 20 Defensemen
Top 10 Goaltenders

In terms of the 2012 Fighting Sioux recruiting class, Jordan Schmaltz is considered one of Kevin Allen's Top 5 US-born prospects for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, while fellow recruit and current USNTDP Under-18 team leading scorer Stefan Matteau was a Tuesday guest on The Pipeline Show. The link to the interview can be found here, and the Matteau interview begins about five minutes into the clip.

Wednesday was a quiet day in terms of NHL and AHL action with just one game scheduled in each league, but some former Sioux had big nights. In the AHL, Ryan Duncan had a goal and two assists and Brett Hextall added an assist to help Portland defeat Manchester 5-3. Duncan (2G, 3A), Hextall (1G, 3A), and Matt Watkins (1G, 1A) are all among Portland's leading scorers through the first four games of the season, and Duncan (+1) and Hextall (+2) are two of only four Pirates on the positive side of the Plus/Minus ledger.

In the NHL, Matt Frattin scored the shootout winning goal as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Winnipeg Jets. Below are videos of Frattin scoring the goal and discussing it afterwards:
Goal:

Interview: