Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Somewhat Daily News Updates

Colorado College defenseman Brian Salcido has signed with Anaheim. Salcido is the 16th underclassmen to leave the WCHA this summer, and third NCAA player to sign early with the Ducks, joining Michigan State's Drew Miller and Minnesota State's Ryan Carter. It's a tough loss for Colorado College in what was already expected to be a rebuilding year for the Tigers.

It also seems that Phil McRae, who played the NTDP last season as a sophomore, will play for the London Knights next season. His father, Basil, a former NHL player, is a part owner of the London Knights. It's a tough loss for college hockey, but probably the best decision for McRae. He would have played for the U18 team next season, and would have had to play in the USHL for a year before joining a college.

It's been an interesting week in Grand Forks. Sophomore Jonathan Toews turned down a rookie maximum contract from the Chicago Blackhawks to return to UND, and assistant coach Brad Berry left UND to be an assistant for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Berry was extremely well-respected as a coach, and it's a tough loss for North Dakota.

St. Cloud is totally excited about the Stanley Cup coming to St. Cloud. Because when I think of sports trophies, I think juggling clowns.

Insidecollegehockey.com is doing their yearly alphabetical player previews. So far, the only CCHA and WCHA players represented are Northern Michigan's Pat Bateman and North Dakota's Taylor Chorney. I guess they have to give the eastern guys more attention now since they never seem to receive as much in March and April(ZING!).

At the Select 15 Festival, the Gold team seems to be dominating with their offense, while Navy seems to be dominating with their defense. Gold has the top four scorers at the camp, with the Ryan Walters leading in goals, while his linemate Zach Budish leads in assists. Cody Murphy is second in goals, while his linemate A.J. Treais is second in assists. Navy has the the top two goalies statistically in Arizona's Eric Ferber and Wisconsin's Corey Morbeck. Navy's team also features top defenseman Cam Fowler.

Finally, a piece of completely unhockey related news. Condolences go out to MGoBlog writer and partially the inspiration for this very site, Brian Cook, who made it to the second day of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker before getting busted in nightmarish fashion.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For the record Toews didn't turn down the max because it was a 2 way deal. It was not guaranteed unless he played in the NHL and Chicago wanted him to start in the AHL. He wanted to leave but wanted to start off in the NHL.