brianvf

And that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Here's the article on Bickel signing with the Ducks: http://www.twincities.com/ci_9756341?nclick_check=1

Hammy reported on GPL that Bickel from the Gophers will be signing. Tough loss for them, as he was one of their most consistent dmen last season from what I saw.

I don't think so. Recruits like Toews, Gregoire, Hextall, Gleason, Kristo, etc are all top level recruits that are coming in within the next couple seasons. I think Hakstol and Co have done an excellent job recruiting since he took over for Blais.

I don't know. I guess it's a plus that he didn't leave at midseason.

I was joking. I see Trupp having a big year for the Sioux next year. I think this is going to be a fun team to watch. They certainly have loads of offensive talent.

Sitting in the stands with Davidson? The Sioux are going to be really deep at forward this year. Not alot of huge goal scorers (outside of Duncs and Kozek), but many players that are capable of putting up 10 goals each or so. It is a good "problem" to have. We shouldn't have any problem putting out three solid scoring lines and one checking line that can also put in some goals.

Frattin reminds me alot of Kozek. A really quick, hard, accurate wrist shot, he just has to work on getting it off more frequently and from better spots. I think he has potential to be a 15-25+ goal scorer in his jr/sr years. Hopefully he can improve a bit from last year in his soph season, because he certainly showed potential at times last year.

I think we'll actually have improved scoring, especially if the WCHA actually calls it tighter like they say they will. The entire league as a whole was down in scoring last year, not just the Sioux.

It is currently 2008.

That's what I did. Well, technically I entered kindergarten when I was 5.75 yo, but same thing.

Maybe because he'll be around longer than Jonathan.

Agreed. I wonder how many years we'll get from him? Hopefully at least two, as he looks to be a special player.

http://ckdr.net/sports/index.php#0000012674

No more Dean. That's too bad. I'm sure he'll be back with another user name soon enough.

Brad confirmed on his blog that Malone is still with the Sioux and will not attend the Halifax training camp. Good news.

Sometimes the lack of info is the best info.

I'm guessing that Malone isn't going anywhere. Per Schlossman's Q&A with Cichy, it sounds like Halifax likes to put rookies on their training camp roster even if they have no intention of being at the camp (or going to the team). Plus, that roster has been available for a couple weeks already. If Malone had left the team for the QMJHL, I'm guessing that we would have heard about it "officially" by now.

I know, it's going to suck having an experienced dman coming back for another year. Better than your 1st round draft picks though, who leave midseason.

I hope that he comes back for his senior year, but he will probably be a strong candidate to leave after this upcoming season. Especially being that I see him having a monster year.

I not only don't have a problem with it...I think that is tremendous news. Finley was one of our most consistent dman all season long last year...he had a couple of lapses in the playoffs, but that didn't change the fact that he was solid for the rest of the year. If this news is true, he will be a leader of our d-corps next season, and I would expect him to have a great year.

Good job grouping all Sioux fans together. I don't hold a grudge against Clarke. It's his decision. I'm actually glad that he made his decision now, two full seasons before he was supposed to take the ice for the Sioux. That gives Hakstol plenty of time to find a dman for that vacated spot. While I would have loved to see him in a Sioux uni, the UND hockey program will go on...with or without him. I have the same thoughts about Gregoire. It was his decision. I'm sure that some DU fans were upset by his change of plans, just as some Sioux fans are upset about Clarke. But those feelings will pass, and other recruits will take their places. That said, I will enjoy seeing Gregoire in a Sioux uniform much more than I would have seeing him in a DU uni.

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.