Everything didn’t go perfectly for Wisconsin last season, but it’s hard to ignore how close it got to an unexpected breakthrough under coach Mike Eaves. The Badgers had trouble finding consistent offensive production and had subpar special teams. But the reason they were just an overtime goal away from the Frozen Four is the same … Read more
Anyone can win. A statement most readily associated with the suddenly pop-culture World Series of Poker, why can’t it apply to the WCHA, too? Why couldn’t anyone win the MacNaughton Cup this season? Minnesota-Duluth looks strong, but since when does the team that looks the best at the start of the regular season lift the … Read more
Let’s get this straight: North Dakota’s question mark early in the season is offense? Maybe that tells exactly how thin the questions surrounding the Sioux are. The early departures of Brandon Bochenski took a bite out of the offense, but UND returns seven players who scored 10 or more goals last season. Only Minnesota-Duluth matches … Read more
John Hill is no stranger to adversity with his Alaska-Anchorage team. Two years ago, an NCAA violation in the usage of textbook scholarship money leading to the suspension of a number of players was only one rough patch in a 1-28-7 season. But the Anchorage native and former Seawolves captain is also familiar with what … Read more
Alaska-Anchorage defenseman Lee Green has been stripped of his captaincy and will miss an exhibition game and three regular-season games as a result of his involvement in a locker-room fight with teammate Brett Arcand-Kootenay. The punishment, released by the school on Monday at the completion of an internal investigation, means Green will miss the Oct. … Read more
Wisconsin’s Ryan MacMurchy had a suspension for his alleged involvement in a fight cut to one regular-season game Monday by an appeals committee. MacMurchy was suspended from practices and games under Wisconsin’s Student-Athlete Discipline Policy, which levies punishments for violations involving drugs, gambling or violence. The junior forward was cited by Madison police for misdemeanor … Read more
Alaska-Anchorage captain Lee Green has been suspended indefinitely by the team after being arrested on a second-degree assault charge Sunday for allegedy punching teammate Brett Arcand-Kootenay in the team’s locker room. Arcand-Kootenay had surgery Monday to repair a broken jaw after the incident, which, according to police reports cited by the Anchorage Daily News was … Read more
Wisconsin junior forward Ryan MacMurchy said Wednesday he will appeal an indefinite suspension handed down earlier in the day under the school’s discipline code for athletes. MacMurchy, a 21-year-old winger from Regina, Saskatchewan, was cited for misdemeanor battery after a fight outside a Madison bar early Sunday morning. That triggered the UW’s year-old Student-Athlete Discipline … Read more
Defenseman Ryan Suter will sign a contract with the Nashville Predators and forgo his final three years of eligibility at Wisconsin, The Capital Times of Madison reported Wednesday. Suter, a WCHA third-team and all-rookie selection last season, was Nashville’s first-round pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft, selected seventh overall. It was believed that the … Read more
Forward Thomas Vanek has signed a contract with the Buffalo Sabres and will forgo his final two seasons at Minnesota, the school announced Friday. Vanek, an All-American last season who was selected by the Sabres with the fifth overall pick in the 2003 draft, is the third Gophers player to leave school early for the … Read more
Brandon Bochenski, a 2004 Hobey Baker Award finalist, made it official yesterday, telling his coaches he is leaving school with the intention of soon signing with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. USCHO reported in late July that Bochenski was planning to leave school. Bochenski, who would have been a senior at UND next season, was a … Read more
Chris Fournier, who would have been Alaska-Anchorage’s leading returning scorer, has had his scholarship revoked and will not be back with the Seawolves this fall, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Fournier lost his academic eligibility last spring, but could’ve made it up had he taken summer classes. Fournier decided not to take the courses, … Read more
It may have taken a couple of months, but it appears Bobby Goepfert has landed on his feet. The former Providence goaltender, who was released for what the school called a violation of team rules, will transfer to St. Cloud State for this coming fall semester. Goepfert will have to sit out one full season … Read more
North Dakota forward Brandon Bochenski, one of the nation’s leading scorers the past two seasons and a Hobey Baker finalist last season, will likely sign with the Ottawa Senators of the NHL this week, according to former Fighting Sioux head coach Dean Blais. (photo: Patrick C. Miller) Bochenski, who would have been a senior at … Read more
It’s never easy replacing a two-time national champion coach at a prominent program.
What little suspense remained as to who would succeed Dean Blais as North Dakota’s head coach ended Friday when Dave Hakstol became the 15th head coach in the program’s 58-year history.
University of North Dakota athletic director Roger Thomas says that he’s talked to potential head coach candidates outside of UND and has not ruled out the possibility of hiring one of them. “There are certainly great coaches out there and there are [Sioux] alumni coaches who have an interest,” Thomas said. “There’s also great passion … Read more
North Dakota will stay within the family and appoint Dave Hakstol its head coach, a newspaper reports. Hakstol, currently the team’s interim head coach after the departure of Dean Blais, will be given the full title as early as next week, the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald reported in a story in Thursday’s editions, quoting an … Read more
When team Managing Partner Wayne Gretzky stepped to the podium to make Phoenix’s first-round selection in the 2004 NHL Draft, the crowd of mostly Carolina Hurricanes fans, draft prospects and their families, stood to salute ‘The Great One’ with a rousing, heartfelt ovation. Just moments later, the reaction changed to agape jaws when Gretzky announced … Read more
Friday, the University of North Dakota announced that associate head coach Dave Hakstol has been named interim head coach in the wake of Dean Blais’ departure for the NHL. Hakstol, a 1992 graduate of UND and former hockey captain, has head coaching experience with the USHL’s Sioux City franchise — where he was the league’s … Read more