brianvf

He certainly is, but competition for forward spots next year is going to be high. You could swap him for Zajac on the 3rd line, but I liked the thought of a really gritty, tough line of Hextall and Zajac with Watkins. Either way, it's not like these are starting lineups for the October opener here, so we have some time to play around with them.

Duncan-VandeVelde-Gregoire Trupp-Toews-Kozek Hextall-Watkins-Zajac Frattin-Malone-Miller Martens-Davidson-Lamoureux

IIRC, they were both on the Protected List for USHL teams for next year, so I think that would be a good assumption to make.

Michigan only has 2 titles since 1965. Not exactly what I would call the best program either.

We're lucky he didn't get traded to UMN, otherwise he would have to leave at midseason!

Update from the Sioux blog: I would guess that the other skater will be the addition of MacWilliam to cover Chorney's spot, and then possibly a goalie to replace Snider if needed.

Also from that blog post:

Kind of like you and your fellow Gopher fans thought about Wheeler, right?

Here's the article from the Herald: Chorney close to signing

Nice job focusing on just the numbers. The fact of the matter is that while Duncan's numbers did go down last year, he also was one of our best defensive forwards and spent a good chunk of ice time out on the penalty kill. Regardless of whether his numbers go up or down next season, the Sioux are a much better team with him coming back. Of course NHL teams are skeptical of him...he's like 5'4". But I'm not worried about what his NHL career will be like...or even if he'll have a NHL career. I'm just excited to see him out on the ice for his senior season and see what he can do as a Captain for the Sioux.

You're comparing Duncan to alot of freshmen that came in as very high NHL draft picks and were expected to do very well. I would consider Duncan's freshman season as still very good. And you can't argue with his soph year...bringing home the Hobey says it all. While he probably won't have that much of a shot in the NHL because of his size, he will still always be one of my favorite Sioux players of all-time. And he will still be one of our offensive leaders next season. Will his numbers be as good as his soph/jr seasons? Maybe, maybe not. But he is a player that excels in other areas, away from the stat sheet. Short and sweet: The Sioux are lucky to have Ryan return for next season, and will be a better team because of it. I look forward to watching him wear the Sioux jersey for another season.

Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure the Gophers won't go through another 20+ year drought like before.

Brad Elliott? This could go on forever. I think you mean Brian Elliott.

I wonder if both will come in (along with Blood) if Chorney or Finley leaves early. All dmen (9): Sr - Chorney, Finley, Jones Jr - Genoway So - Marto, LaPoint Fr - Blood, MacWilliam, Gleason Don't the coaches normally want 8 dmen on the roster? Unless there is a walk-on, or someone else that I am missing, I would think that both Gleason and MacWilliam would come in if someone leaves. And if both Chorney and Finley leave, then maybe Finehage would come in too. Although it would not be ideal to have 4 freshmen dmen and only 2 upperclassmen.

Heisenberg has Fienhage listed as an 09 now, and both MacWilliam and Gleason as 08 or 09 recruits. If he is correct, it would be Gleason and/or MacWilliam joining Blood this fall depending on the decisions of Chorney & Finley.

Who is this Brad Elliot fellow?

He will have 2 years of eligibility left regardless of what college he chooses to attend.

Was this article posted here yet? http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/..._refer=Homepage Interesting article, although it just sounds more like Reusse's opinion rather than backed up by any facts.

I would have no complaints with that. And I doubt Porter would care either.

Cool to see that he could also break Porter's record for consecutive games played as well.

Excellent news Captain/Hobey Duncan.

So Chorney is either for-sure gone, or for-sure staying? Sounds like we are back at square one here.

I heard that Oshie isn't coming back to the Sioux either after his year in the NHL.

jk is correct. Brad wrote on his blog as well that after Forney completes his year in the USHL, he will have 2 years of collegiate eligibility left.

I doubt we'll be that lucky, but we can hope. Hakstol thought that we could lose 1-3. Not sure if that includes Forney or not though. If Chorney leaves, I'm guessing that one of MacWilliam/Finehage/Gleason comes in. If Duncan or Kozek leaves, then we'll bring in Cichy.