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"Mulock was a league leader in the Western Hockey League last year - in collecting pine needles in his hind-quarters while splitting the year with the Giants and Pats. The six-foot, 180 pound centre spent much of last season watching from the bench. He saw limited ice time over 71 games, and collected seven goals and 12 assists. He added an assist in four playoff matches." ----------------------- This was from an old story, as he's entering his third BCHL year now. One of the sad cases where a player chooses major junior, rides the bench, then has to go another route, with no NCAA eligibility left. Well, maybe he has some eligibility: He played two years in the WHL, so he'd have to sit two years, plus at least 71 additional games for his second WHL year. It looks like he might have to sit out his freshman, sophomore and junior years, and he might become eligible sometime in March of his senior year.

Five days until the exhibition game, and a week until "Meet the Sioux." Anybody have any idea what we have for a team this year? From a pure talent standpoint, this team probably has six NHL first-round draft picks and three second-rounders. ("Probably" includes Toews being drafted in the first round, which isn't assured but seems reasonable at this point.) Of eighteen skaters, nine will be first or second rounders. That's just sick. Has anyone ever heard of that much pure talent on one college team before? It's possible that in ten years perhaps half of those players will be in the NHL and we'll look back amazed that they were on the same team. Here's the downside: They may ultimately be among the most talented teams in NCAA history, but barely in the top half of the league this year. All that talent is extremely young by NCAA standards. This is the extreme example, but Jon Toews, when he's 22, may well be better than 99% of the players in college hockey this year. Unfortunately, that's five years from now, and he's just a shadow of the player he'll be then. Even elder statesman Drew Stafford, a junior this year, is still just 19. One of the tired old message board disputes discusses a hypothetical matchup between a major junior team and a college team. Part of the support for the college team is that, while it may be less talented, it is usually a few years older, on average. This season's UND team may be as close as we get to seeing this matchup, as you could view UND this year as a super-talented major junior team. There are a few older players, like Fabian and Prpich, but mostly this team is stacked with elite teenagers. There have been a lot of good college teams, championship teams, that won with 21, 22, 23 year old players. One even won a title with NO NHL draft picks, let alone first and second rounders. Of course the defense is especially young. Their potential is intriguing, especially the potential to move the puck a little better than we have seen in a number of years. But consider the skates they have to fill: as of today, Matt Jones, Matt Greene and Andy Schneider are still up with the big clubs at their NHL training camps. I don't think any will make their NHL clubs out of camp (and I could be wrong), but all three are very nearly NHL players. That's how good the defense was last year. Anyway, it should be very interesting to watch the young guys move closer and closer to their potential; there should be some real flashes of brilliance. But it could also be ugly at times, against the usual suspects, but also against some teams with older, experienced players like Mankato, Tech and UAA. So we may have to be patient and hope they come together in time to make a run.

Just because Mario apparently decided to play for Tri-City this year doesn't mean anything for 2006 or 2007 (on this I think I agree with Kermit). The Mueller comparison is a good one, and we'll have to wait a season to see how similar their situations ultimately are. Mueller is an ultra-elite talent, and he had basically run out of places to play, as an amatuer. He had pretty well dominated at the USNDT, and he probably would not have been sufficiently challenged in the USHL. He hadn't finished high school, so college wasn't an option. That left only the WHL. Mario was 7-15-22 and -7 last year in 59 games, so obviously he hasn't outgrown the USHL. He'll still be well challenged there this year, so he made a good choice this Fall, IMO. He was also the youngest player on his team by a fair stretch last year, so he has a good chance of having a better year this year. If he in fact has a great year this year, then he'll have a pretty tough choice next year: play another year in the USHL, where he was already great, or step up a level in competition by heading to the WHL. If he's "just" solid this year, then the path to college would seem clear, after dominating the USHL in 06'07 (hopefully). As an aside, both Kessel and Toews would have been in Mueller's predicament this year had they not successfully accelerated their schooling. Also, just because I'm mentioning Mueller, Kessel and Toews in this thread doesn't mean I think Mario is that kind of a prospect. I've never seen most of the guys play, so I really have no idea.

I believe Foyt was a recruited walk-on; he was invited to come play for the team, but without a scholarship. There was some press in the town he played junior hockey in about him coming to play for the Sioux that Fall.

No offense to anyone posting in threads about the Sioux name, or satellite and internet coverage, or tickets and roadtrips, but is there anything hockey-related going on? Did any players pull a "Bulldog:" sitting on their parents' couch drinking beer all Summer long? Anyone come back in killer shape, ready to have a breakout year? Have the freshmen fit right in during Summer skates, or conversely looked out of place? Are we in for a serious rebuilding year, or can the team mature quickly enough to compete a little ways into the Spring?

Duncan and Finley average 6' 1/2" and 191 pounds. Looks pretty routine.

I've never seen Martens play, but my impression was that he has soft hands and is more a slick player than a grinder like Kaip or McMahon. I guess we'll see. (Although we might not see too much this year, since playing time will be very competitive.) As for McMahon, I thought he was a pretty hot commodity when he was recruited; I'm guessing he had a nice scholarship.

Prpich and Greene playing through significant injuries in the postseason helped to drive the team to its near-greatness, from what I heard. In addition, both Prpich and Fabian are older, which could aid a captaincy. I see those two with good chances of wearing a letter.

I believe school has started at UND, which means dryland training and then captains' practices soon. Last year's "C", Greene, and "A"s, Schneider, Jones and McMahon, have moved on. So, who will run the captains' practices? There aren't many upperclassmen, so I assume the list of candidates includes Prpich, Fabian, Porter, Stafford, Zajac and Smaby. Any ideas?

The news that his recovery is progressing well is super. The article also gives us a few answers about the plan for the near future. He can skate and work out now, and his next check-up is in about six months, or near the end of February. Even if he were cleared to play then, it's hard to imagine a scenario where it would make sense to add a player for the last few weeks of the season. So now he can concentrate on recovering, and hopefully be cleared to play and be his usual mini-tower of strength again beginning in the Fall of 2006.

This makes the Finley commitment even more important. Good luck to Dowzak; it might end up being a good move for him.

Barry's also a good buddy of our very own former captain Matt Greene.

Congratulations to Matt and good luck. Thanks for anchoring a spot in UND's chain of pro-style defensemen: Commodore for three years, Hale for three years, Greene for three years. Smaby is next while Finley matures, and on and on.

Patience. Let FSU lead the charge for a little while and see how things start to settle. There's nothing wrong with taking a little extra time to survey the landscape before deciding on the best course of action.

My point is that being named to a position doesn't mean success necessarily follows. I'm a fan of Gretzky the player, and he seems to be a nice, humble person as well. It just seems like you are reaching a bit on the list; I personally think the Olympic and World Cup wins are his only real off-ice accomplishments. Since you asked, my area of expertise is pretending, on message boards, to know something.

I've got nothing against Gretzky, but aren't you reaching a bit? 1. Ambassador - Not measurable, not an accomplishment, and if the health of the sport is the best measure, then how successful has he been? 2. Opened new markets - A function of his trade during his playing career. 3. Stabilized a shaky PHX franchise - Hardly a unique accomplishment, as it could be done by anyone with money. 4. 11th hour lockout avoidance - Failed miserably. 5. Olympic gold medal architect - OK, that's an accomplishment. But really, shouldn't Canada be the favorite in every World Cup and Olympic hockey competition? 6. World Cup architect - See 5. 7. Selected to be the architect for the next Olympics - How exactly is this an accomplishment? The event has yet to occur, and if it does, see 5. above.

I'll have to read it again, but it looks to me like it's effective February 1, 2006.

On Watkins, from the Dallas Stars website: Tim Bernhardt, Dallas Stars Director of Amateur Scouting: "He's heading off to a real good program at the University of North Dakota for four years. He's got real flat-out top-end speed." Brad Robson, Dallas Stars Scout: "He is a very smart and skilled player with good vision. He sees the ice very well and he's very good and very calm with the puck. He runs a power play well and is good with the puck down low." http://www.dallasstars.com/homeNewsDetail.jsp?id=2971

http://www.stlouisblues.com/columnists/lw_home.html A little more press from St. Louis. "He scored a goal in every game I saw him play and created scoring opportunities on almost every shift," Kekalainen said. "But what stands out most is he gets involved. Despite his size, he really competes and likes to hit and loves to score or set up a teammate.

First he said, "Oh ... sh*t" Then he said, "Kellen, lookout" Then he said, "Guentzel, help me get my gear back on"

NHL draft - Check. Generated plenty of excitement and discussion. Canada's U18 Camp - Check. Canada announced its Under 18 team this morning, and Jon Toews was named to the team, which will play later this month. Here are the roster and link: # Player S/C Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown 2004-05 Team No. Joueur L/C T. P. Naissance Ville d'origine

The Penguins signed Andy Schneider as well, according to my inside source. OK, actually according to the Herald. Congrats to Andy, and don't injure Sidney in practice.

RW, For me it's a two-fold question: Who have they played against, and in front of whom? Kessel played against the best Under-20s in the world, drafted players. He was, in effect, weighed and measured, and not found wanting. And this was done in front of millions. Toews played against "midgets." And though he was seen by important people like scouts, he wasn't seen by millions, or the press. Hence the absence of hype. My point isn't that Toews isn't as good, it's that we don't know. To your question of SSM's obscurity, I meant it in a relative sense, in comparison to playing on international television. The hype that was attached to all of the prospects you named does not in the aggregate approach Mr. Kessel's hype, IMO.

So, you're just trying to take the pressure off MN? Denver has four with MN and four with CC, plus the regular tough WCHA schedule. (I would mention that they also have four with UND, but that doesn't exactly appear to be a problem for Denver.) Despite the terrific players they return, I can't imagine them winning 40 games.

The Oilers' GM on the Pronger deal: "We've got Matt Greene hopefully coming out of North Dakota, we traded Tommy Salo last year for Tom Gilbert, who's at Wisconsin, and we drafted Taylor Chorney and Danny Syvret this year," said Lowe. Syvret,the London Knights captain, is ready to play in the NHL now, so this opens a spot for him. http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjou...154ede33&page=2