SiouxScore

He tweeted to Tyler Landman, former Providence player from Roseau,MN "Remember when you where a highly thought of recruit and then you flamed out" or something along those lines, because Landman tweeted something about the incident where the Gopher was kicked out last night. A lot of people very unhappy with Cardinal and thinking he is very chilidish.

Don't know if this is the best place for it but is Ryan Cardinal actually associated with the Minnesota hockey program at all? I know I use to listen to him on the PA show sometimes, but probably won't ever again. First the stunt he pulled at the Final 5, now trying to trash former college players on twitter, to me he is a total tool and I have lost any respect I once had for him.

After watching through these doors I definitely got that impression too, but like you said it is very understandable and really I'd be worried if guys didn't take the loss hard and you certainly know the players did, as well as coaches and the fan base too. I really don't think that had a lot to do with him signing early, but I guess it could of. His reaction was probably one of 2 things he may have felt they were so close and that coulda been more of a reason to come back for another shot and I think he probably was leaning towards coming back for another season after that game, but something must have changed. Or the Islanders had wanted him for so long and he already knew he was gonna be signing whenever the season ended so adter that game he knew it was the last time playing with the boys and playing for a school he loved. A lot of people were a little suprised by the signing including me, but I just think Nelson felt like this was the perfect opportunity for him and time to sign.

Actually I mentioned that in my post too, Dell lost playing time this year compared to last year, and by most accounts he had a worse year this year than the year before. I really think he could be thinking about if he struggles there is gonna be more and probably better competition which could result in him losing playing time. The other thing with Dell is there is no guarantee he would get an offer next year, he is a free agent if for some reason he got injured or had a bad year there is no guarantee. I think Dell will be in the AHL and probably has interest from more than a few teams as there aren't a whole lot of college free agent goalies who are better than him, all in all Dell probably feels like this just might be his best opportunity.

Popeye Jones says he expects son Seth to decide where he will play next season after U-18 world championships which start April 12th in the Czech Republic. http://slightlychilled.areavoices.com/?p=2083

Brad also said he expects to see Knight return. I think if I had to choose one who was gunna leave out of Knight and Dell it would be Dell. I wish he would come back for another year, but can understand why he would take a deal. Dell is a free agent with no gurantee of getting a deal after college, he had a little bit of a down season compared to last year, and there are 2 very good goalies coming in to compete with him and he may have been worried about losing playing time as Dell lost playing time to Eids this year when compared to his 1st year. When Dell does sign I will wish him the best of luck and can see some reasons for leaving and just hope he goes to a system where he can thrive and has a lot of success.

I agree with you he could have been a hobey canidate and you are right he has no run ins with the law, he is a totally classy, respectful, and overall good guy. I agree a off season program at UND would have helped, but I know a lot of guys like to come back and use the facilities in the summer and with his hometown being Warroad I would guess he may still be around this summer.

I think one of the things that we are probably overlooking on Nelson is that he really isn't going to an organization with tons of great prospects. I would guess he immediately becomes the prospect their fans are waiting to come up next. While I thought and wish he would have came back and play another year while putting on some muscle, he may have felt like this is his best shot to get to the NHL the quickest with a fairly weak group of Islander prospects to compete against and not having to compete against a couple more top 5 picks the next couple years.

More good news @UNDSID Junior Carter Rowney, who received free agent interest after his breakthrough season (18-15-33 in 42 GP), has also decided to return.

Yeah I definitely think a lot of people think that about Garth Snow, especially those around the college game. When the Sioux have players draft eligible I have started to hope they don't get taken by the Islanders after some of the stuff I've heard about Snow. I really didn't even think too much about Nelson leaving with everything I knew about him and from seeing him play and I think most assumed he would be back and he's gone, so maybe we will be lucky and get Kristo back, the one who everyone figured was gone.

Agreed I really thought Brock would be back and thought he benefited a lot from playing with Kristo and even though he had 28 goals I was suprised he left. I'm not trying to take anything away from him, but he had what 5 or 6 empty net goals and a lot of times he was setup for easier goals. Really very suprised about Nelson leaving and wish he would have stayed another year. I hope he has success and doesn't end up in the minors all year next year and come back to regret his decison like guys have in the past, but I kinda think that might be the situation. The only thing I can really think of with Nelson as he may feel this was gonna be his best year stat wise and didn't think he would be able to put up those kind of numbers again. I really hope it didn't have a whole lot to do with Garth Snow not thinking college hockey developed players very well. I think he will definitely have to get stronger to get to the NHL and really think it was a bad decison for him to leave, but definitely wish him the best of luck!

Some good news From @UNDSID Andrew Macwilliam has informed Coach Hakstol he will return for his Senior year. Hopefully potential good news? @UNDSID May still have news on at least 1-2 more players as early as today.

Really very suprised about Nelson leaving and wish he would have stayed another year. I hope he has success and doesn't end up in the minors all year next year and come back to regret his decison like guys have in the past, but I kinda think that might be the situation. The only thing I can really think of with Nelson as he may feel this was gonna be his best year stat wise and didn't think he would be able to put up those kind of numbers again. I really hope it didn't have a whole lot to do with Garth Snow not thinking college hockey developed players very well. I think he will definitely have to get stronger to get to the NHL and really think it was a bad decison for him to leave, but definitely wish him the best of luck!

For what its worth about the 2 area Mankato assistant coaches. from @puckato- Darren Blue's contract runs through 6/30/13. Todd Knott's expires this 6/30. Buisman will strongly encourage new coach to keep them

The other is Todd Knott from Red Lake Falls,MN, 2 area guys.

I assume the assistants are out too, not good news one of them was from my hometown and I grew up watching him play high school and college hockey and know him pretty well, great guy and coach.

Not sure if he is too old or not, I think I remember him being one of the older kids in his class however. I don't think he will go back to Fargo, I've seen the kid play since he was a Sophmore in high school and even played against hime a few times and know he will definitely compete for playing time next year and I would guess he will start as Dells backup but may end up splitting series with him and taking the job away if Dell isn't consistent enough. Zane is a kid that is gonna come in and do whatever it takes he is a very technical sound and calm goalie, but also relentless with the work ethic. There aren't many goalies that leave too early when they drafted as teams just let them develop, but who knows it could be a possibility I think he was a 6th? round pick of Boston. If he did have to go back I doubt he would decomit it has been a dream for him to play at UND, he has always wanted to be part of the Fighting Sioux program.

As of now my lineup would be Nelson-Knight-Kristo MacMillan-Rowney-Grimaldi Rodwell-Parks-Koules O'Donnel-Pattyn-Gaarder St.Clair-Chyzk-MacMillan- Dickin-Dipuma? MacWilliam-Mattson Forbort-Schmaltz Simpson-Gleason Senkbeil-Panzerella Dell Gothberg Saunders It will be nice to hopefully have some depth and create competition within the team where guys have to perform every practice to play on the weekends.

I would say the chances are better than 50/50 Nelson is back. I'm sure the Islanders will come after him hard, but from everything I here he really likes school at UND and his family has very strong feelings about him getting his degree. I think another off-season of gaining muscle and Nelson will be a real beast and he would be better of here then in AHL. I hope the guys that are thinking about leaving remember what guys like Gregoire, Hextall, Parise, and even Oshie said when they left early that they wished they woulda stayed another year because there is no place like UND.

Did you actually watch the game? Part of the dominance in the 2nd period was the powerplays, but I agree the 2nd period was definitely not our best. The Gophers were still in attack mode in the 3rd, they went into defense mode in the final 5 and we all saw what happened and they weren't going to make that mistake again. The Sioux took a lot of chances in the 3rd and played desperate which could account some for the Sioux looking better in the 3rd, but it wasn't because the Gophers went into a defensive mode.

I said we didn't get dominated the whole game which we didn't, I admit the 2nd period was not a good period for us.

This is will be one of the more memorable teams in Sioux hockey history for me. They overcame so much adversity throughout the season and probably exceeded most peoples expectations. The team and coaching staff should be proud of their accomplishments this year, every player left everything they had on the ice and gave everything they could, the staff did a great job of getting every players best effort and finding a way to be successful no matter what happened. I want to thank Ben Blood, Mario Lamoreux, and Brad Eidsness for the great contribution they made to the University of North Dakota hockey program and a great career here, I wish them all the best of luck in the future!

Thats just not true, the Sioux were right with the Gophers for most of the game. I thought the Sioux were better for the most part in the 1st, the Gophers were better in the 2nd and took advantage of opportunities and it was pretty even in the 3rd, the Sioux were not totally unprepared and not dominated. Everyone knew this game was basically a toss-up and going to be a very tough matchup.

I'm feeling alright about playing the Gophers again, you know the boys will be ready and it will be very intense. I think this will be the type of game where one mistake could make the difference. I hope for a very intense game and that the refs allow the players to decide the game and not make it a penalty fest.

Duluth beats Maine 5-2. Frozen 4 will consist of at least 1 ECAC team chance of 2, at least 1 WCHA team chance of 2, 1 possible CCHA team, or 1 possible Hockey East team.