Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Two Badger Women Claim WCHA Weekly Awards

UW Women's forward Jinelle Zaugg was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after notching 3 goals and an assist on the weekend against St. Cloud. For the second straight week, goaltender Jesse Vetter claimed WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors stopping all but one of the 43 shots she faced this past weekend.

High School Games to be Rescheduled Due to Weather

The nasty weather last night caused plenty of high school hockey games to be rescheduled at later dates.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Monday Night Linkorama

*Freshman forward Patrick Johnson was named WCHA Rookie of the Week.

*The Hockey News lists Wisconsin defensive recruit Jake Gardiner on their Hotlist this week. The list is for players who are "taking it to the next level".

USHL All-Star Game

Team East defeated Team West 6-5 in a shootout to claim victory in the USHL All-Star Game. Wisconsinites Eric Springer and Ross Henry both played defense for Team West. Springer ended the game +3 while Henry was even.

Team East had 4 Wisconsinites on the roster including forwards Brock Montpetit and Brett Olson, as well as defensemen Ryan Little and Blake Kessel. Montpetit scored the first goal of the game and finished -1, while Kessel had the second goal of the game and finished even. Olson finished -2 while Little was +3.

Brett Olson was one of 2 players to score for Team East in the shootout, helping them claim the victory.

Here's a link to the story on the game from the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Note: Edited Wednesday, January 30th at 6 AM due to the scoresheet being altered since the original post was written.

Eric Springer Profile

The Green Bay Press Gazette has a nice story on Wisconsin native and Sioux Falls Stampede defenseman Eric Springer today.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Monday's Hockey Happenings

*Here's another article and blog post about defenseman Patrick Wiercioch's commitment to Wisconsin for 2008 or 2009.

*The Green Bay Press Gazette spoke with UW recruit Ryan Little about the USHL All-Star Game which will take place Tuesday.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Badger Update

The Badger Men secured a 3-1 victory Friday and came from behind for a 2-2 tie on Saturday to earn 3 of 4 points available on the weekend. I was able to catch most of both games via television and thought the team looked pretty good this weekend. Friday the Badgers dominated the game physically and they certainly did not back down Saturday when the Gophers came out and played about as well as they can play, according to Don Lucia. I think the forward lines may finally be settled. The first two lines have the ability to put the puck in the net, while the third and fourth line will notch a goal here and there. It was nice to see offensive contributions coming from a lot of different players and different lines on the weekend, including the defensemen.

News of defenseman Patrick Wiercioch's verbal is great news for the Badgers. Landing Derek Lee for next season would also be an even bigger boost as UW has had far more trouble landing elite forwards than defensemen. That being said, I think the group coming in at forward over the next few years should help the offense continue to improve. It won't take the offense to elite status, but I think it will keep the offense on an "upward trajectory".

The Badger Women had a great weekend defeating St. Cloud 4-1 on Friday, 4-0 on Saturday and they set a new NCAA Women's Hockey attendance record with 5,377 fans in attendance.

Saturday in the USHL

Indiana squeaked past Des Moines in overtime 4-3. Brent Gwidt finished -1 for Indiana.

Sioux City handled Tri City 5-2. UW recruit Chris Hickey has been finishing better offensively of late, and notched a goal in this game. He finished -1 for the game.

Ohio held off Cedar Rapids 4-3 after having a 4-1 lead. Justin Cseter was even for Ohio and had an assist.

Waterloo downed Lincoln 4-3. Brett Olson from Waterloo was named First Star of the Game. He had a goal and finished even. Craig Smith had an assist as did Blake Kessel for Waterloo. Smith was even on the game and Kessel was +1. Brock Montpetit and Scott Pavelski both finished even for Waterloo, while Keegan Meuer was not active. For Lincoln, Taylor Kuypers was not active, and both Travis Erstad and Ross Henry finished even.

Omaha got the best of Sioux Falls 3-1. Matt Thurber had a goal and was +1 for Omaha, while Seth Soley was -1 and Jake Hauswirth finished even. For Sioux Falls, Sam Zabkowicz had an assist and was +1, Eric Springer was even and Jake Drewiske was -1.

Chicago edged Green Bay 4-3. Aaron Schmit had a goal and was +1 for Chicago. For Green Bay both Ryan Little and Kyle Ensign were -2. Aaron Crandall was not in net for Green Bay.

Wiercioch Commits

Per Milewski and Baggot, defenseman Patrick Wiercioch has verbally committed to Wisconsin and will don the Cardinal and White in either '08 or '09. Nice!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Friday in the USHL

Indiana edged Des Moines in a shootout 5-4. Brent Gwidt had an assist and finished +1 for Indiana.

Lincoln claimed a 4-1 victory over Ohio. Travis Erstad, Ross Henry and Taylor Kuypers were all even for the Stars in the game. Justin Cseter finished even for Ohio.

Wisconsinite and UW recruit Matt Thurber was named First Star of the Game as Omaha took out Waterloo 3-1. Thurber had a goal and an assist and finished +1. Teammates Seth Soley and Jake Hauswirth also finished +1. For Waterloo, Wisconsinite and UW recruit Brock Montpetit had an assist and finished +1. Craig Smith and Brett Olson finished even, Keegan Meuer was -1, and Blake Kessel was a team-worst -3 for Waterloo. Scott Pavelski was not in the lineup for Waterloo.

Tri-City defeated Sioux Falls 3-2 in overtime. Wisconsin recruit Chris Hickey had a goal for Tri-City and was named Third Star of the Game. For Sioux Falls, Eric Springer, Sam Zabkowicz and Jake Drewiske all finished even.

Cedar Rapids handled Sioux City 4-1. UW recruit Ryan Little was even for Green Bay, while fellow UW recruit Aaron Crandall stopped 24 of 28 shots in the loss. Kyle Ensign was -1. Aaron Schmit was not in the lineup for Chicago.

Green Bay continued it's tailspin as Chicago blanked the Gamblers 4-0. UW recruit Ryan Little was even on the night, while fellow UW recruit Aaron Crandall stopped 24 of 28 shots in the loss. Kyle Ensign was -1 for Green Bay. Aaron Schmit was not in the lineup for Chicago.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Catchin' Up Linkorama

Will he stay or will he go? Maybe Terry Frei has the answer to this question about Kyle Turris. Or could it be that Andy Baggot does?

The Janesville Gazette has a bunch of stories on the Bluebirds boys hockey team. Despite some trouble for rules violations at the beginning of the season, they're undefeated. Unfortunately, another rules violation has recently reared it's head.

I happened upon a nice article on former Badger Mike Richter. The piece focuses on the relationship between Richter and Brian Leetch.

Here's a great article from the San Jose Mercury News. It starts out, "Although the Chicago Badgers outscored Joe Pavelski 2-1, the San Jose center got more help and ended up with bragging rights over his Wisconsin college buddies."

Michael Davies was named the WCHA's Offensive Player of the Week.

Western College Hockey is reporting that UW forward recruit Derek Stepan will be asked by USA Hockey to join he USNTDP U-17's for the Vlad Dzurilla Four Nations tournament in Slovakia

Monday, January 21, 2008

Monday Linkorama

*Chase Drake, a Senior Defenseman for Mosinee, was added last week to the Green Bay Gambler's active roster but has not yet played a game for them.

*UW forward Blake Geoffrion will participate in the CSTV chat tomorrow at noon. You can submit your questions and follow along here.

*Hockey's Future discusses the Carolina Hurricanes prospects playing in the NCAA's including Jamie McBain. McBain is currently fifth on their prospects list, and the top defenseman on the list.

*Hockey's Future also has an extremely long and thorough analysis of UW defenseman Cody Goloubef.

*In the latest rankings, the UW Men moved up from #17 to #16. The UW Women remain ranked #5. In the Division III Men's poll, St. Norbert remains #1, River Falls moved up from fifth to fourth and Stout dropped one spot to #10. In the Division III Women's poll, Stevens Point remains #3.

*The Superior Daily Telegram has some coverage of the UW-Superior Women's weekend.

*The Waukesha Freeman has a blurb about Arrowhead defeating Homestead (scroll down a bit).

*The Beloit Daily News has a piece on Beloit Memorial's victory over Madison LaFollette/East.

*Cedar Creek, which is near Wausau, is planning a 4,000 seat ice arena with the intent of having a USHL franchise as a tenant. Thanks to Ryan at the USHL Blog for the "head's up" on this.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Bits and Blurbs

The Badger men narrowly defeated Alaska Anchorage Friday by a score of 2-1 and had to settle for a come from behind 4-4 tie on Saturday.

Andy Baggot writes that Red Line Report has UW's 2008-2009 recruiting class ranked #5. Having a class ranked #5 is great, but I don't even think the coaches know which recruits will step foot on campus next year, besides Matt Thurber and Ryan Little, as well as transfer Tom Bardis.

Terry Frei from the Denver Post had a chat with Kyle Turris last weekend, as well as Coyotes general manager Don Maloney. Frei's impression of how long Turris will be at UW might surprise you....he believes Turris will stay for his Sophomore season.

The Badger women completed their sweep of Ohio State with a 4-1 victory.

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald has a piece on former UW Assistant Troy Ward. Luke Strand, a former coach for the Green Bay Gamblers and the Head Coach at UW-Eau Claire is also mentioned in the article as he is on the Houston Aeros staff with Ward.

The #3 ranked UW-Stevens Point women's hockey team won both Friday and Saturday over UW Eau Claire to remain unbeaten this season at 13-0-1. Their 15 game unbeaten streak is currently the longest in all of college hockey.

I stumbled onto the website for Bela Hockey about 3-4 weeks ago and have been meaning to mention it. They claim to be the first hockey brand just for girls, and the company is owned and operated by a couple of hockey moms (Anna Cloutier & Justine Carlisle) as well as Cammi Granato.

Travis Erstad vs. Rody Selk

I guess Erstad had so much fun fighting Ryan Peltoma on January 5th he decided to square off against Rody Selk 10 days later. Erstad is the player whose jersey gets pulled up during the fight.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

USHL USA 1992 & 1993 Draft Lists Released

The USHL has released their 1992 & 1993 draft lists. Here's the Wisconsin players that made the lists:

USA 1992's

Shayne McLaughlin RW Eau Claire Memorial High & Team Wisconsin Minor
Tony Kujava G Green Bay Gamblers U18
CJ Eick LW Green Bay Gamblers U18
Tyler Menucci LD Green Bay Gamblers U18
Ryan Belonger RW Green Bay Gamblers U18
Nolan Kirley RD Hayward High & Team Wisconsin Minor
Danny Bartkowiak RC Madison Capitols U16
Tyler Jacobson RD Madison Capitols U16
Kyle Komplin LW Madison Capitols U16
Matt Lennon LW Madison Capitols U16
Gage Maurer LC Madison Edgewood
Dean Shaughn LD Madison Memorial High & WHSEL Region 4
Allen Garrett LW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Lawrence Cornellier RW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Jose Delgadillo RD Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Jared Rabey LW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals U16
Kamen Klasinski LD Stevens Point High
Chris Bishop RD Superior High
David Chapin G Waukesha Catholic Memorial High & Team Wisconsin Minor
*Max Gardiner LW Minnetonka High

*Max Gardiner is the brother of Jake Gardiner, who is a Badger recruit. He plays for Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, MN


USA 1993's

Nate Bubacy RD Chicago Young Americans U14
Dylan Cleerman D Green Bay High
Evan Janssen C Green Bay High
Garrett Patrick RF Hudson High
Tyler Platz G Madison Capitols U16
Alex Racino LW Madison Capitols U14
Joseph Fiala LD Verona High
Trevor Morbeck RW Milwaukee Jr. Admirals
Taylor Fleming RD Wisconsin Fire
Derek Frawley RC Wisconsin Fire
Matt Kroska RF Wisconsin Fire
Mike Reilly RF Wisconsin Fire
Eric Schurhamer F Wisconsin Fire
Jack Storo LW Wisconsin Fire

Friday, January 18, 2008

Starting the Weekend Right Linkorama

#5 ranked Onalaska boys crushed LaCrescent, Minnesota 10-0.

Former UW goaltender Brian Elliott continues to improve at Binghamton.

Honorable Mention Arrowhead boys defeated #8 Appleton United 4-3.

#7 Wausau West boys stay perfect in the Wisconsin Valley Conference with a 3-1 victory at Stevens Point.

Senior UW wing Matt Ford believes hard work will get him over the scoring hump.

Todd Milewski had a few musings today in his blog.

In a big in-state college Division III men's matchup this weekend, #5 UW-River Falls travels to #9 UW-Stout.

The Badger Women claimed a win tonight by a score of 3-2 over Ohio State. It's kind of strange to think both the Badger men & women play tonight and yet the women are done with their game over an hour before the men start.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

High School Hockey Game Stories Linkorama

St. Croix Valley Fusion girls downed Chippewa Falls 4-3.

Onalaska girls split a pair of games defeating South Central Freeze and losing to Menomonie.

River Falls boys defeated both Eau Claire North and Chippewa Falls.

The DC Everest boys edged Stevens Point.

Appleton United shut out Beaver Dam.

UW's Protest Over Denver Game Denied

The WCHA has denied Wisconsin's protest over the Friday night Denver game dispute.

Cody Strang out for Season

A reader was nice enough to let Hockey in Wisconsin know that undefeated and #2 ranked Madison Edgewood has lost their leading scorer for the season. Cody Strang apparently suffered a broken leg in their game against Arrowhead.

Girl Power

Alright, so this is pretty late, but congratulations to Team USA U18 which claimed a 5-2 victory over Team Canada in the championship game of the inaugural IIHF World Womens U18 Championship this past weekend.

Many players with ties to Wisconsin competed in the event. Wisconsinites Brianna Decker, who is a Junior at Shattuck St. Mary's and Sophomore Brianna Kessel who also plays at Shattuck played for Team USA. Several Wisconsin recruits were also involved including Brooke Ammerman for Team USA and Brittany Haverstock and Caroline Prevost for Team Canada.

Amanda Kessel lead Team USA and finished tied for third in scoring for the tournament, with 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points and was +10. Brooke Ammerman tied for fifth in scoring with 6 goals and 4 assists for 10 points and was +8. Carolyne Prevost had 6 goals and 3 assists for 9 points which was good for an eight place tie. She was also +8 for the tournament. Brianna Decker was tied for 14th in scoring with 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points and was +9. Brittany Haverstock is the only defenseman of this group, and she finished +10 with 2 assists for the tournament. Prevost, Ammerman and Decker all had a goal and an assist in the Championship Game, while Kessel scored a goal. Brooke Ammerman was named Player of the Game in the Championship Game as well.

I've mentioned several times that both Decker and Kessel are must get recruits for the UW Women's team, and they continue to display why.

Here's the link to the tournament website. The individual pages for scoring leaders and game results don't have their own URL (they're Adobe documents) so if you want to peruse them you'll have to find the proper link of the tournament's website.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Badger Men's Hockey Update

*Fan voting for the Hobey Baker is now open at hobeybaker.com. You can vote for Jamie McBain, Kyle Turris or Ben Street from the Badgers.

*Former Badger Brian Elliott is touted as the goaltender of the future for the Ottawa Senators in the latest Senators AHL prospects update on Hockey's Future.

*Todd Milewski reports that Brendan Smith's back injury will prevent him from traveling to Alaska for this weekend's series against Alaska Anchorage.

Here are the lines for this weekend, per Milewski:

Josh Engel-Ben Street-Matthew Ford
Blake Geoffrion-Kyle Turris-Patrick Johnson
Michael Davies-Aaron Bendickson-Podge Turnbull
John Mitchell-Sean Dolan-Ben Grotting

Davis Drewiske-Kyle Klubertanz
Ryan McDonagh-Jamie McBain
Craig Johnson-Cody Goloubef

Shane Connelly
Scott Gudmandson

Tom Gorowsky and Andy Bohmbach are also making the trip.

Tuesday Linkorama

The Badger Men's hockey team is protesting their Friday night loss to Denver. The article also mentions that Brendan Smith is having some back trouble and missed practice Monday in addition to not having played on Saturday.

Here's a story on Wisconsin Rapids defeating Wausau East.

This short piece is on Wausau West's shutout of Marshfield.

USA Hockey has an article on Milwaukee's Phoenix Force Program.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Weekend USHL Highlights

Here's the highlights for UW recruits and Wisconsin players in the USHL:

*Wisconsinite & UW recruit Matt Thurber scored a shorthanded goal in both Friday and Saturday's games. On the season, he has 8 goals. Of the 8 total goals, 5 have been short-handed.

*UW recruit Chris Hickey had two goals Friday night against Chicago in a 5-4 shootout win. Hickey was named Second Star of the Game. Hickey also drew a 10-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Saturday.

*UW recruit Aaron Crandall stopped 24 of 27 shots Friday but the Gamblers lost 3-1 to Cedar Rapids.

*Wisconsinite Eric Springer had 18 penalty minutes Saturday as Sioux Falls dropped a 5-2 game to Ohio. Making it even more amazing is that none of the penalty minutes were for fighting.

*Wisconsinite and UW recruit Craig Smith has been pretty quiet offensively this season, but notched a goal Saturday against Indiana.

Feature on Connor McBride

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a feature yesterday on Arrowhead forward Connor McBride.

2010 Recruit Chooses UND Over Wisconsin

Garrett Clarke, a 2010 "offensive" defenseman who currently plays for Russell Stover, has chosen UND out of a field of 13 Division 1 programs. He had apparently narrowed his field of suitors down to North Dakota and Wisconsin prior to making his final decision.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Jake Gardiner Piece & Video

WCCO in Minneapolis/St. Paul recently did a piece on UW recruit Jake Gardiner, who plays for Minnetonka. The video can be seen here.

Rumblings...

I hear Junior forward Sean Little from Fond du Lac has joined the Madison Capitols, which will mean he cannot return to the Cardinals this season. Little had been leading the state in scoring prior to his departure.

Badgers Split

The Badger Men split with Denver this weekend. Friday night's game was a complete fiasco that seems should have gone into overtime due to a incorrect call, AND an incorrect video replay interpretation. Denver won 3-2. Todd Milewski actually has four blog posts about it...1....2...3...4.

UW came out with a vengeance last night and put a touchdown up on the scoreboard complete with extra point, winning 7-2.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Erstad Vs. Peltoma

This clip is former Stevens Point forward and current Lincoln Stars forward Travis Erstad (white jersey) squaring off against the Tri-City Storm's Ryan Peltoma (dark jersey) this past weekend.


NHL Scouting Service Mid-Term Rankings

The NHL Scouting Service has released their mid-term rankings for North American Skaters, and as the article I linked to yesterday from the Minneapolis Star Tribune suggests, defenseman Jake Gardiner from Minnetonka high school has made a surge up the rankings to #22. Gardiner has committed to play for Wisconsin.

UW defenseman Cody Goloubef is currently ranked at #48. Former Eau Claire Memorial standout Seth Soley, who now plays for Omaha in the USHL is ranked #67. Soley has committed to Michigan Tech. His former linemate on Team Wisconsin Major, Nate Condon from Wausau West is ranked just behind him at #70. Condon has committed to the University of Minnesota. University of Wisconsin recruit Derek Stepan, who currently plays for Shattuck St. Mary's is ranked #72. Fellow UW recruit Tyler Barnes from Burnsville High School is ranked #112.

Canadian defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, who left the BCHL to play for Omaha of the USHL, but has been hurt much of the season is #119. He is a potential UW recruit that was supposed to decide on his college choice this month. The next player on the list was a complete surprise for me. Defenseman Chase Drake of Mosinee, who also played for Team Wisconsin Major, is ranked #123.

Somerset native Brock Montpetit is ranked #154. He is a forward and is currently playing for Waterloo of the USHL after spending last season at Shattuck St. Mary's, and is a University of Wisconsin recruit. Montpetit was named to the USHL All-Star Game yesterday. Rounding out the list is Montpetit's former teammate at Shattuck St. Mary's and future teammate at UW, forward Jordan Murray at #191.

University of Wisconsin recruit Aaron Crandall, who plays for Green Bay in the USHL, is ranked #17 among North American goaltenders.

Wednesday Morning Linkorama

Here's an article on Appleton's girls goaltender Danielle Dahl, and the Appleton United girls' 3-0 victory over the Central Wisconsin girls.

The Central Wisconsin girls bounced back quickly, defeating Point/Rapids for a second time this season.

The Arizona Republic has a story on former Badger Steve Reinprecht.

Here's a little more info on the USHL All-Star Game and Banquet, which will take place in Green Bay.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Tuesday Linkorama

*UW defenseman recruit Jake Gardiner's star continues to rise, much like Ryan McDonagh's did last year.

*Wisconsinite Ross Henry is the USHL's Defensive Player of the Week.

*I stumbled onto the bio of Katie Coyne today. She plays for Bowdoin and seems like an impressive player and person. Katie is from Madison.

*I found this article about UW Women's Hockey recruit Brittany Haverstock last week, but just haven't gotten around to posting it.

Six Wisconsinites Make USHL All-Star Rosters

The USHL All-Star rosters were announced today, with 6 Wisconsinites being named to the squads. Here are the teams, with Wisconsin players in Bold:


East Division All-Stars (Team RBK)

Goaltenders
Brady Hjelle - Cedar Rapids
Matt DiGirolamo - Waterloo

Defense
Matt Tomassoni - Cedar Rapids
Tim Buttery - Chicago
Ryan Little - Green Bay
John Carlson - Indiana
Greg Pateryn - Ohio
Blake Kessel - Waterloo

Forwards
David Boehm - Cedar Rapids
Doug Jones - Cedar Rapids
Tyler Thompson - Cedar Rapids
Drew LeBlanc - Chicago
Brian O'Neill - Chicago
Joe Schiller - Green Bay
John Kemp - Indiana
Greg Squires - Indiana
Paul Carey - Indiana
Nick Larson - Waterloo
Brett Olson - Waterloo
Brock Montpetit - Waterloo



West Division All-Stars (Team CCM)

Goaltenders
Drew Palmisano - Omaha
Josh Robinson - Sioux City

Defense
Austin Handley - Des Moines
Matt Bartkowski - Lincoln
Ross Henry - Lincoln
Chris Hepp - Omaha
Matt Crandell - Sioux City
Eric Springer - Sioux Falls

Forwards
Jared Festler - Lincoln
Jason Gregoire - Lincoln
Barry Almeida - Omaha
Chris Connolly - Omaha
Andrew Conboy - Omaha
Spencer Heichman - Sioux City
Steve Quailer - Sioux City
Alex Tuckerman - Sioux City
Nick Dineen - Sioux Falls
Jake Hansen - Sioux Falls
Jack Connolly - Sioux Falls
Alex Hudson - Tri-City

Monday, January 07, 2008

Playing Big

Wisconsinite JJ Koehler is making his presence felt anyway he can at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, even though he's just 5'6".

Thanks to Ryan at the USHL Blog for the heads up on this article.

Turris Update

World Junior Championship gold medalist Kyle Turris has apparently made his way back to British Columbia, and plans to join the Badgers for their series in Denver without coming back to Wisconsin first.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

It's Official-Gwidt to UNO

Chris Heisenberg has confirmed that Brent Gwidt from Lakeland High School in Minocqua, who currently plays for the Indiana Ice of the USHL, has committed to the University of Nebraska Omaha. Hockey In Wisconsin had reported this on Friday

Suicide Watch Needed?

I hope Barry Alvarez will assign someone to keep Mike Eaves, Kevin Patrick and Mark Osiecki away from tall buildings and sharp objects after Saturday night's game. If I was coaching that team I would not have even addressed the team after the game. I would have immediately left to check myself into a Psych Ward so I wouldn't hurt myself or others.

If you missed it, it was just like most other games this season. Chad Rau got a short-handed goal (he's had one in each of 4 games against the Badgers this season) compliments of UW's defense, the forwards couldn't solve the opposing goaltender, and the power play continued to be brutal.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Saturday's Wacky USHL Scores

There were some blowouts tonight in the USHL, and also some very ugly stat sheets. Here's the specifics:

Sioux City blasted Indiana 7-1. Brent Gwidt did not scratch the scoresheet for Indiana, other than a penalty.

Green Bay was blanked 4-0 by Cedar Rapids. After trading their second-leading scorer for defenseman Kyle Ensign you would have expected the Gamblers to struggle offensively, but at this point their defense does not seem improved. Kyle Ensign was even in the contest, Ryan Little was -1 and Aaron Crandall did not play.

Lincoln smoked Tri-City 7-1. Ross Henry had a goal and was +2, Travis Erstad had a goal and was +1 for Lincoln. Taylor Kuypers was in the lineup for Lincoln. I had noticed the other night they had activated him again, but am not sure if it is temporary or for good this time. Kuypers was even in the game.

Ohio got the best of Waterloo 2-1. Brett Olson had a goal for Waterloo and was-1, while Blake Kessel assisted on the goal and was +1. Wisconsinite and current Junior Blue Jacket Justin Cseter was called for a 5-minute major and 10-minute misconduct for a facemask. This apparently sparked a couple of different fights as 4 players (2 for each team) also got 5 & 10 minute penalties for fighting, including Waterloo's Keegan Meuer. Somehow, Scott Pavelski managed to be called for kneeing at the same time all of this other stuff was going on! Cseter and Meuer both finished even. Craig Smith was -2, while Scott Pavelski and Brock Montpetit both finished even.

Sioux Falls doubled up Omaha 4-2. Seth Soley finished even for Omaha, while teammates Jake Hauswirth and Matt Thurber were both -1. Erick Springer had an assist and was +1 for Sioux Falls. Teammates Jake Drewiske and Sam Zabkowicz both finished even.

Chicago took out Des Moines 3-1. Defenseman Aaron Schmit was +2 for Chicago.

Turris & Team Canada Strike Gold...Team USA Fails to Medal

Kyle Turris and Team Canada claimed the title of World Junior Champions today in the Czech Republic by defeating Sweden in overtime, by a score of 3-2. Turris had an assist in the game and finished as Canada's leading scorer with 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points.

Blake Geoffrion, Jamie McBain and Team USA failed to medal and finished in fourth place after being defeated by Russia 4-2.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Friday in the USHL

Indiana edged Sioux City 5-4. Wisconsinite Brent Gwidt finished -1 for Indiana.

Cedar Rapids handled Waterloo 5-3. For Waterloo, Brett Olson had a goal and finished -1, while Blake Kessel had an assist and finished -2. Teammates Keegan Meuer and Craig Smith finished even, Scott Pavelski finished -1 and Brock Montpetit was -3.

Green Bay got spanked 5-1 by Ohio. UW recruit Aaron Crandall let in 5 goals on 17 shots in the loss. Teammate and UW recruit Ryan Little finished -1. Wisconsinite and former Gambler Justin Cseter laughed all the way to the scoresheet with a goal and an assist, as well as a +2 rating for the game. Wisconsinite and new Gambler Kyle Ensign was -2.

Lincoln took care of Omaha 5-2. Ross Henry had an assist and was +2 for Lincoln, while Travis Erstad did not play in the game. For Omaha, Jake Hauswirth was -2, Matt Thurber and Seth Soley both were -1.

Tri-City edged Sioux Falls. Sam Zabkowicz was even for Sioux Falls, while teammate Eric Springer was -2 and teammate Jake Drewiske was -3. UW recruit Chris Hickey did not manage to dent the score sheet for Tri-City.

Chicago doubled up Des Moines 2-1. Wisconsinite and Chicago defenseman Arron Schmit was -2.

Random Topics Linkorama

*A reader left a message that Wisconsinite forward Brent Gwidt of the Indiana Ice has accepted a scholarship to the University of Nebraska Omaha. I have not yet been able to find any kind of verification of that via Internet, but congratulations to Brent if true.

*Somebody with Blake Geoffrion's hockey pedigree ought to know enough not to wake a sleeping giant. Why poke Canada with a stick when the United States record against them in the World Junior Championship is 5-26-3? Geoffrion decided it was a good idea to "talk some smack" via e-mail to UW teammate Kyle Turris, who is playing with Team Canada, prior to the semi-final game today. The result of the game? Canada again claimed victory over the U.S. by a score of 4-1 with Turris having an assist.

*Colorado College claimed their third victory over the Badgers this season by a score of 2-0 tonight.

*The Badger Women downed Minnesota State 4-1 behind two goals from Emily Kranz, and one each from Kyla Sanders and Erika Lawler.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

New Richmond Product Traded to Gamblers

The Green Bay Gamblers have traded forward and second-leading scorer Phil Ginand to Tri-City for New Richmond native Kyle Ensign, who is a defenseman. Thanks to Ryan from the Unofficial USHL Hockey Blog for the "heads up" on this trade.

Ensign played in only 25 games last season due to injuries, and has played 20 games this season recording a goal and four assists for five points. His +/- is even for the season. Ensign is committed to play for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

DC Everest vs. Wausau West Pictorial






I wanted to share some pictures of DC Everest vs. Wausau West as they are pretty good shots, even though they are from December 20th. West won the game 3-1.
Thanks to Ricky Bassman for the photos.

U20 World Championships

Since my last update, both Team USA and Team Canada won their final games in pool play. Team USA defeated Finland 5-3 with Jamie McBain notching an assist. Team Canada rolled over Denmark 4-1 with Kyle Turris finding the back of the net twice.

Team Canada today doubled up Finland 4-2 in the quarterfinal round. Kyle Turris had an assist in the contest.

Team Canada will now face Team USA on Friday in the semi-final round.

Kyle Turris is tied for third in scoring for the tournament with 4 goals and 2 assists for 6 points in 5 games. He is also +1 and has won 65.31% of his faceoffs (6th best in the tournament).

Blake Geoffrion has won a whopping 71.43% of his faceoffs, which is third best in the tournament. His +/- is even for the tournament, and he has one assist.

Jamie McBain is +5 for the tournament, tied for the best +/- on Team USA and tied for second for all players in the tournament. He also has one assist for the tournament.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Catchin' Up With the USHL

Over the weekend there was a ton of USHL action, as well as Monday night. I'm going to cover some highlights from those three days.

Friday night found Blake Kessel flexing his muscles on the power play, scoring two goals and an assist for Waterloo against Lincoln in a 3-2 victory in which Kessel was named First Star of the Game. Brett Olson had a goal and an assist on the power play as well, earning him Second Star of the Game honors. Kessel, Keegan Meuer, Craig Smith and Brock Montpetit finished -1. Brett Olson and Scott Pavelski finished even.

On Saturday, 6'4" Travis Erstad had an assist and a fight against 5'9" Nielsson Arcibal that earned him 15 penalty minutes. Also of interest is that Erstad had the first assist on the first goal, yet was off the ice according to the stat sheet when the goal was scored. I realize that is not impossible, but fairly improbable.

Monday night found Blake Kessel and other Wisconsinites filling the stat sheet during their game against Cedar Rapids which Waterloo won 4-1. Kessel had a goal and two assists, Brett Olson had two goals and Keegan Meuer had an assist. Olson was named First Star of the Game while Kessel was Second Star of the Game.