Linkages: 'Cause I've Got Zip

We're in the doldrums. Other than Don Lucia bitching in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that UAA wouldn't give it's permission for them to talk to Walsky there's not much going on UAA-wise. Isn't that awful? It's a good thing that Head Coaches don't have to get permission to talk to other schools about Assistant Coaching jobs.

Over at the DU Blog, mah man dggoddard added a WCHA referee to his "All Bad Boyz" team. This particular ref has a resume' that includes a criminal record for Bookmaking and Gambling. EDIT: DG has added a post about Shea Hamilton's transfer to UND in which he characterizes Shea as a "penalty ridden, sucky underachiever". Harsh but funny.

MeanEgirl over at the Michigan Tech Blog put in a helluva lotta work to detail MTU's new skating treadmill. She's got pictures. She's got interviews with staff. She's got loads and loads of info all which she says indicates that MTU is "better" than UND (or anyone without a skating treadmill). I guess Uncle Ralph was satisfied with a $100 million in Italian marble and forgot about important stuff like teaching kids to skate uphill. I kid. It's a good post which required much more time and effort than I'm ever likely to put into a post.

Looks like goaltender Jordan Parise at UND is turning pro early (hopefully to a pro team that HAS a treadmill). Otherwise Goon is spending a lot of time hoping the 'Canes finish off Edmonton soon (which they probably will). Unfortunately, I cheer for underdogs and teams that don't have brutally ugly guys named Brindamour playing for them.

My favorite Minisoda Blog; RunningWiththeDogs has a post describing (with three top ten lists) why she likes Blogging. Good stuff but if she keeps up with the lists then I'll feel like I can't use the same "list" format. Sigh.

Gloryboy Bobby (Goepfert not Motzko) and his agent are apparently insisting that the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement should mean that he became a free agent on June 1st of this year. Pittsburgh holds his rights and says he doesn't become a free agent until next June 1st. Apparently nobody in St. Cloud seems to realize that if the kid and his agent are fighting for free agency status that means he's hot and bothered to get out of skankville (I mean St. Cloud).

So I think all this is confirmation that the offseason is not over yet.

2006 Alumni Golf Tournament

A couple of weeks ago I noticed this link on the UAA website for the annual golf tournament on July 8th. It's been a while since I swung a golf club in anger so I figured I'd sign up. Procrastinator that I am, I figured I'd get to it this Friday (payday) so I went back to the site to find the sign-up form. The skinny is that for a hundred bucks you can golf 18 holes at Moose Run in a foursome including one Hockey Alum.

Oh wait that's not the skinny. There's another (newer) link from the main Athletic's page and when you click on the entry form link you find out that the tournament is now August 8th at Eagleglen and the price has SKYROCKETED to a hundred and seventy-five bucks. My first guess is that Eagleglen's carts must have V-8's installed which would account for the $75 increase.

Interestingly, now the tournament is "presented by Lexus of Alaska". Well that's nice. They got some sponsorship. They're also selling $100 raffle tickets (200 of em) for a chance to go to the Lexus Champions for Charity torunament at Pebble Beach in December. Not to be critical of an organization that I'm not a member of but wouldn't adding a sponsor tend to keep the price for participants down instead of JUMPING UP to $175? The entry form says "Full Field Expected". No doubt all the proceeds will go to UAA Hockey so if it's in your budget go sign up and enjoy.

Correction:
Thanks very much to the person who commented below and straightened out my massive dysfunction in not understanding that the 2 golf tournaments above are actually 2 distinct events. The July 8th event is put on by the UAA Hockey Alumni Association. The August 8th event is put on by the Athletic Department and supports all Seawolf sports. Go to both of 'em if you can ... but if you can only make one of them, then July 8th is the best day for you. I'm thinking I should make it a rule to not post things here after 1 a.m.

Dear Rumor Spreader(s)

Ya know what? I'm not a big fan of rumors. The recent spate of rumors with regard to possible assistant coaches and/or players reconsidering and/or players coming and/or not ... has me pretty much fed up.

So first; I'll just ask that you not propagate rumors in the comment section. Naturally there's a select few asswipes that will take me asking that as an invitation, but hopefully it will give anyone else who finds themselves compulsively repeating crap they've "heard", a chance to briefly consider not doing so. So how can you fill that compulsion to tell your secret? You're busting to prove to the world that you know something that they don't so what should you do?

E-mail me. Want credit? I'll print your name. Don't want credit? Well then convince me your information is true and I'll put my name on it. I'll answer any/every email and give you a clear answer as to whether I'll print the information and why. Isn't that a more adult way to handle the info? Or you could go start you're own blog.

I don't want to censor my comment section since we live in America and all. But I will.

Just Filling The Void

I've been mostly trying to hold my water with regard to the 06-07 Seawolves roster this off season. I'd mentioned that Shea Hamilton was rumored to be leaving. It's also been rumored that Eric Walsky would be leaving. I'd been trying to be patient until we saw what the roster looked like at the beginning of the school year. Speculation and rumor isn't anything that interests me. And frankly the roster at the beginning of the season almost never looks like you'd have expected when the previous season ended. It's that way at pretty much every D-1 school. But because others seem to be endlessly buzzed by speculation and rumor I figured it was as good a reason as any to write something.

Happily, when I surfed over to the UAA Hockey homepage and clicked on the roster link; I found that it was recently updated. I feel like this entry might even be legitimate now and not just some inane attempt to fill the week long void. So as expected and to confirm all those rumors; Walsky and Hamilton are both not listed. Walsky appears to be transferring to the University of Minnesota and I'm fairly certain Hamilton is transferring to North Dakota. I guess Minnesota wins the "bag-a-disenchanted-Hill-recruit" contest. Both guys sit out next season before we'll see them in opposition uniforms. My point is that Walsky is likely to put up some nice numbers as a Gopher. As a junior my guess would be he'll earn perhaps as many as 35 assists. His potential goal output is harder to gauge. The general agreement is that Walsky can stick handle in a phonebooth. There were plenty of times during last season that Walsky owned the ice during his shifts. Paired up with a couple of goal scorers (and they ALWAYS have those in Mariucciland) he should flourish (unless the assertions that he's just a puck hog are true). I think Hamilton is a hit/miss prospect wherever he ends up. I like his gritty style and attitude; but it was his overly liberal misuse of those positives that made him as much of a hindrance as a helper to the team. He took a lot of unnecessary penalties. If he matures (and a year of school and only practice could be just the ticket) and then plays his part (fills whatever role Hakstol tells him to) as Junior then perhaps he could pop in 15 goals as a Senior.

Now that I've talked too long about a couple of guys that aren't Seawolves I should give equal time to the group that is. I'm happy they updated the roster just because I like to see what numbers the new kids end up with. The first thing I notice is that Erik Felde and Shane Lovdahl are both going to wear #20. OK? Hmmmm ... dunno what to make of that. Erik wore #20 for Vernon in the BC. Shane wore #20 last year for UAA. Hmmmm ... the season before last they were teammates on the USHL Champion Cedar Rapids squad. I can't seem to find a roster with numbers from that team but I'd assume only one of them wore #20. Hmmm ... are they gonna arm wrestle for it before the season starts? Who will get the apparently coveted #20. Stay tuned. Josh Lunden ends up with one of my favorite UAA numbers #21 (his same number as with Chilliwack). I'll have to constantly judge next season whether or not I think Josh will live up to the legacy of Brian Kraft's number. Big shoes to fill; I promise to not judge too harshly. Paul Crowder will be #11 and his number last year with Burnaby was #20. What? He doesn't get to arm wrestle for #20? Trevor Hunt goes from #24 at Chilliwack to #42 at UAA. I can't think of any previous #42's at UAA. At least he didn't want #20 eh? Ken Selby will wear Joey Hayse's #8 after wearing #27 for Dauphin last year. And lastly Kevin Clark will wear the #9 jersey as he did in Winnipeg last year.

Having a roster published is nice to see. Imagining what might be good lines is an excellent process if you want to kill some time. Not me though. I'm staying away from speculating about lines this season. I swear. But an all-freshman line of Clark-Lunden-Selby would be the CLS-line ... the CLOSE line ... get it? If those guys play together then remember who thought that up first.