ND Pride

Jay Erickson, an assistant at Fargo North, has been hired as the new head coach.

North High has hired a coach and the announcement should come out later on Thursday, May 5th.

Thanks for the explanation. It makes a lot of sense, except in these two players' instances. First, Dowzak plays at SSM, an experience that could easily (though not always) transfer immediately to a DI team. I know that Porter, JPar, Duncan, and all played juniors before coming to UND (or is playing juniors) however Dowzak plays as well as any player currently playing D and he's only a junior. Assuming there's no slot for him in 2006, would he turn down an opportunity to play for another WCHA team to spend a year in juniors and take a schollie to UND? I'm betting no. As for Finley, he's already spent a year in juniors and will spend next year in juniors as well. Maybe we can get both, we may not even be recruiting Finley. But in any case, after a quality prep school experience or, in Finley's case, 2 years already of junior hockey, don't you think you'd take the "right now" instead of "just a little later?" <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mario is the youngest of the Lamoureux boys. He has been one of the top players as a squirt, peewee, bantam. He represented North Dakota at the USA Hockey National Festival for the past three years and has drawn attention from North American scouting sites such as U. S. Hockey Report (USHR) and Hockeyscouting.ca. He was on a USA Hockey team last summer that played in Europe and, as already mentioned - had pretty good year in the USHL as a sophomore in high school. He was on the North Dakota 88 bantam team that played for the national championship in Orlando, Florida in 2003 and has also played at the highly selective "Prospects" Hockey Tournament in Toronto with a few other top North Dakota 88s kids last spring (2004). He is a stong physical player who is not intimidated at all. He has good instincts and has finesse to go with the toughness. Would be a great addition for the Sioux

Your question can be answered if you can get access to WCHA rosters for the past few years. The trends have been changing over time and I think the norm is increasingly a year or two in juniors. In the fall the newspaper entitled Let's Play Hockey often runs the rosters of all Minnesota WCHA teams. For some teams all players have played in juniors and for others there are a couple that have not. I think to answer your question you have to first eliminate the kids who came from USA Hockey's NTDP program because that is similar to a junior program in terms of number of games, level of competition, etc. In addition, you have to eliminate the kids who went to Shattuck-St. Mary's as their level of competition and number of games is similar to juniors. In fact, St. Mary's is a major midget program (the Prep team) and they occasionally play one or two games with junior A teams. My main point is that to answer your question you have to take those two groups of kids out to make the analysis. We can check this out by looking at a few WCHA rosters for 2004-2005. Looking at the Sioux roster you can see that 100% of the players (23/23 with the elimination of Smaby and Staffford who played at Shattuck) have played juniors. At Denver 96.1% (25/26 have played juniors, this excludes 2 kids who came from USA Hockey's NTDP). At St. Cloud State 95.8% (23/24) played juniors and at Wisconsin 86.3% (19/22 excluding one player from Shattuck and 4 from NTDP). At UMD 96% (24/25) played juniors. In a couple of cases, for the schools analyzed (UMD and Wisconsin), one of the kids who came directly from high school was a goalie. I would guess that if you went through the rest of the WCHA the result would be about the same. At the top programs it is rare to take a kid directly out of the high school leagues. To do so is a risk on the part of the player and the coach. Now at the University of Minnesota, which I have analyzed in a thread somewhere else on this board, you will find kids that played juniors but only on a pre high school season and post season basis - they never really put in a full year of juniors. Insiders tell me that this is not always wise - sometimes the parent is a coach, the kid is maybe a Mr. Hockey or finalist and they think they are ready. Maybe they are, maybe not. In any case playing juniors is the norm and the % of kids in the WCHA who play a year or more of juniors is likely around 92-95%. With a 25 player "active" roster that translates into 1 or 2 players at most who do not do the junior route. If I had more free time I could run through the entire WCHA.

For North the Forum reported today that the pool included Jay Erickson and Scott Philbrick both North assistant coaches this past season. In addition, Davidson a South assistant is also in the mix. The outside candidates were not named in the paper.

Go to the reference desk at the UND Library and ask for the salary book. Every university in ND has one and it is public record. Salaries are listed by department/unit. That should give you a good indication of his salary as a state employee. Sometimes coaches may be listed on various budget lines but you should be able to find a total somewhere in there. My .02 - Hak deserves a nice raise.

I thought Team ND was easily better than the 87/88, the dominated the play for the most part, but couldn't score. This is of course expected because they are seniors. 87/88 had two power play goals. Next year Team ND will be good, but it's not like this years team is anything short of average. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think a kid named Sand was the goalie that tried out. Hard to follow as a lot of kids did not pre-register and showed up the first day of tryouts. The Campbell's played on the Elite II (Thomas) and Elite I (Paul) last fall. They are outstanding players. When that line (with Ostenrude) was "clicking" they were one of the best in the state (maybe even the best at times). I think either Campbell could find a junior "A" team to settle in with if they hit the tryout camps - NAHL probably. They are smallish but there are a lot of forwards in the 5'7" to 5'9" range that are very successful. They are very smart hockey players and know the game. I have great respect for both of them.

Andy Petersen would have tried out had it not been for his shoulder surgery. He was on the team every year and was selected for the USA Hockey National Festival each year. Only one Grafton/PR kid tried out and that was a goalie. The Campbells were not there but both would have clearly been on the team.

The addresses were on the North Dakota Select website as part of the roster. Did not give it a thought at the time I cut and pasted. I deleted them from this post - thanks for mentioning it. You can still wish them happy birthday you just won't have an address to send the card.

2005 Dakota Selects 87/88 Jersey Name Position City Birthdate 1 Deichart, Sean G Fargo / 58104 88/09/07 2 Anderson, Trevor D West Fargo / 58078 88/05/25 3 Graalum, Kristopher D Fargo / 58104 88/04/10 4 Connel, Justin RW Bismarck / 58501 88/01/11 6 Benke, Brad LW Grand Forks / 58201 87/06/19 7 Monson, Ross RW Bismarck / 58503 88/05/01 8 Galt Erick D Fargo / 58103 87/09/08 9 Weisgarber, Paul C Fargo / 58103 88/04/18 10 Borlaug, Jared D Hazen / 58545 87/01/06 13 Stremick, Nathan C Minot / 58701 88/07/12 15 Klenow, Nick RW Fargo / 58102 88/01/10 16 Willert, Jordan C Minot / 58701 87/11/06 17 Dittus, Andy LW Minot / 58703 87/11/04 18 Mihulka, Marc LW Grand Forks / 58201 87/08/12 19 Dingeman, Clark D Bismarck / 58503 88/03/26 20 Welding, Zach RW Jamestown / 58401 88/11/14 30 Shane, Kelvin G Grand Forks / 58203 87/04/21 31 Hillman, Michel G Bismarck / 58504 88/06/08

Last weekend the North Dakota Select 87/88s played Team North Dakota in Jamestown. The 87/88s first played the Select 89 team and beat them 7-3 earlier in the day. At the 5 PM game a fresh Team North Dakota trailed the 87/88s 2-1 with about 5 minutes left in the game. The seniors did pull it out over the junior/sophomore group 3-2 with two late goals. If this junior class comes out in force for the Team North Dakota tryouts next year it could be one of the strongest groups in years. Most people felt that the best defenseman on the ice was junior Erik Galt who scored two goals for the 87/88s and played a strong defensive game as well. Team ND also had 4 lines to 3 for the 87/88s.

The Starz lost their first two pool play games but won their third and have continued to win and will now play for the national championship on Saturday. In 2003 another North Dakota bantam team, the North Dakota 88s also made it to the championship game and lost 4-3.

Thanks for digging that out. Congrats to Mario!

First, the kids played very well as a team. There was a lot of great puck movement and unselfish play - the kind you typically see when you get a select group together that respects one another. Considering they only had two practices under their belt and Shattuck's teams have seven months of practice and games the team play was even more remarkable. On the defensive side Erik Galt, Clark Dingeman, and Trevor Anderson played very well. The forwards used the d-men effectively and they were effective when they got the puck - 3 goals from the point in the first game. It looks like the coaches tried to keep kids together based on previous teams (high school or previous select teams). Weisgarber, Mihulka and Klenow played well and Willert, Dittus and Welding were very effective as well. Justin Connell and Ross Monson of Bismarck High also had a good weekend. It was a great team effort considering the level of opponent. Kelvin Shane stood on his head for the first period against the Prep team and shut them out for the first 15 minutes - no small task against their talented forwards. Jonathon Toews had one goal and two assists vs the 87/88s.

Just for the record, pseudo - for those who are studying for their ACTs.

A couple of random observations on Shattuck. According to Shattuck sources there are 7 or 8 seniors that they claim will go straight to D-I hockey schools. The obvious well known ones are Jonathon Toews to UND and Kyle Okposo to Minnesota. Toews looked outstanding and has the size, smarts and ability to be an impact player for the Sioux. Interesting though, Okposo was one heck of a force on the ice - a mass of solid muscle who moves incredibly well. Some players felt he was perhaps the strongest player on the ice. Angelo Esposito, the 89 from Montreal was impressive as well. The Shattuck Prep team has two North Dakota kids - Dallas Bossort from Bismarck and Brycen Eberwein from Grand Forks. Not to minimize Volpei - on the U16 team - he is a great player and will no doubt end up at a top D-I program.

The North Dakota USA Hockey Select 89 and 87/88 teams played in Shattuck this past weekend (Sat and Sunday). The 87/88's played the Shattuck U16 (Minor Midget) team that is ranked in the top 4 or 5 in the country. On Saturday North Dakota beat Shattuck 5-3 despite the fact that ND received ten penalties to 5 for Shattuck. The refs in Shattuck each year are absolutely terrible (more to come on that). Brian Volpei had two assists. He is a strong skater and quite skilled. I would say that his point total does not mean much - in fact the point totals for most Shattuck players are somewhat misleading. They play 60+ games and many of the so-called AAA teams that they play are not very good as they often win games by 5, 6 or more goals. Nonetheless, they have some of the very best hockey players in North America and when you get that many great players together on one team it is hard for many teams to compete with them. It is a credit to the North Dakota players that they beat the U-16s. On Saturday night Team North Dakota (the high school seniors going to the Chicago Showcase) were supposed to play the Shattuck Prep Team - ranked #1 in the nation in Major midgets. They did not make the trip so the 87/88 team played them and put up a good fight for one period - which ended 2-0 in favor of Shattuck (with Chorney, Toews, Okposo, Brock, Esposito, Mosey, Genoway, Deeth, etc etc). It was the second game of the day for the 87/88s and the first for The Shattuck Preps. The game ended 9-0. The Prep team was a very classy group and very professional - not cheap at all. The 87s/88s had one penalty and the Prep team had four. Quite a difference from the U-16 game. The North Dakota 87/88s played the U-16s again on Sunday morning (today) and lost 7-2. Shattuck had four penalties and North Dakota had 12!!! The refs are a complete joke. If you are competitive with their teams you will get the homer job. That is one of the reasons why teams like Holy Angels will only play them on neutral ice. Anyway, great program and great players too bad about the officiating as their kids do not need that to win - well, I take that back - the U-16s probably needed it. Volpei had one goal in the second game. North Dakota had a nice mix of forwards and d-men with the following line combos (Mihulka, Weisgarber, Klenow; Willert, Dittus and Welding; Connell, Monson and Stremick with Benke filling in variously - Shane and Hillman were in net and the d-men were Andersen, Galt, Dingeman, Borlaug, and Graalum. Some of these kids (along with Mario Lamoureux) were on that ND 88s bantam team that were silver medalists in Orlando At the USA Hockey National Bantam Championships a few years ago. This was the last weekend of games for the Shattuck teams before they fly out to nationals. It was the first weekend of games for the North Dakota kids as their teams were picked the week before.

I have seen Toews play on several occasions - the first when he was a peewee at a tourney in Edmonton. Tremendous player. Maybe I can update after this weekend as the North Dakota Select 87/88 team is playing the Shattuck Prep Team on Saturday night at Shattuck (Towes, Genoway, Chorney, Okposo, Dowzak etc etc).

>>>> If you can't see that he clearly raises his <a style='text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 3px double;' href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=23&k=left%20hand" onmouseover="window.status='left hand'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">left hand</a> to "five" the guy then you're as blind as Hirsch is a NUT JOB. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sometimes athletes sustain physical injuries and in other cases the injuries are emotional. Best of luck and I hope for a full recovery for Robbie Bina and Tyler Hirsch.