Lets Review The Week

The week started on Tuesday night when the Terriers and Harvard Crimson played won of the most thrilling games of the season. Saturday marked the return of Red Hot Hockey in Madison Square Garden where the Terrier took on #8 Cornell.

Tuesday game was the first of the Terrier comebacks. Down a goal with 19.2 left in the third David Warsofsky took a slapper that was tipped in by Zach Cohen. BU would win the game in overtime when Nick Bonino (photo #13) attempted a wrap-a-round that went wide. The puck found  Joe Pereira who then ended the game by putting the puck in the Harvard net.
Click here for the full recap

In Red Hot Hockey the Terriers found them selves down 3-1 at the start of the third period. BU cut the Cornell lead to 3-2 when Nick Bonino pick up the puck at center ice and skated it in on a two on one with Chris Connolly (photo #12). Bonino tried to pas it to Connolly. But instead the puck hit a Cornell stick and went in. The Terriers would tie the game when Chris Connolly jammed home a rebound with only 52.3 seconds left.
Click here for the full recap

Teddy Bear Toss in Plymouth Saturday

When the Ontario Hockey League’s Plymouth Whalers host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds this Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Compuware Arena, they’ll be playing for more than two points in the tight Western Conference standings.

The Whalers are hosting their annual Teddy Bear Toss, in the anticipation of making a child’s Christmas Day a little brighter.

The concept is simple and fun to see. Fans are encouraged to bring a new stuffed animal to Saturday’s game and throw it on the ice the first time the Whalers score (the 2008 event is pictured above). The Whalers – with the assistance of Plymouth United Way – will donate any stuffed animal to various United Way charities.

In addition, the Whalers booster club will be selling stuffed animals at the game to make the situation a little more convenient for fans.

The Teddy Bear Toss is the second special event recently hosted by the Whalers designed to help individuals and families in need. Last Saturday, the Whalers collected over a ton of non-perishable food items for Plymouth United Way – an all-time record. Plymouth United Way will oversee the distribution of the food items with the help of Salvation Army.

An added component of the food donation for fans was the opportunity to win a $500 shopping spree, courtesy of 12 Oaks Mall. Long-time Whalers fan Irene Addison won the shopping spree.

WHALERS MOVE MORE GAMES TO 88.1 FM WSDP: An experiment that started as a trial run with three games in November is moving more quickly in December. The Whalers will be airing more games on 88.1 FM WSDP “The Escape," starting Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. when Plymouth hosts Saginaw. WSDP will be airing 27 of the Whalers remaining games over the rest of the 2009-10 season, with playoffs a viable option as well. Pete Krupsky provides the play-by-play, with WDFN's Sean Baligian providing color on many of the broadcasts.

A complete list of Plymouth games to be aired in WSDP can be found below. In addition, WSDP may be covering the 2010 Canadian Hockey League Top Prospects Game, held Jan. 20 in Windsor.

All other games will be aired online on http://www.plymouthwhalers.com/.

PLYMOUTH WHALERS RADIO BROADCASTS on 88.1 FM WSDP

Wednesday, December 2 Saginaw 7pm
Friday, December 4 at Saginaw 7pm
Thursday, December 10 at Sarnia 7:15pm
Saturday, December 12 Saginaw 7pm
Friday, December 18 at Oshawa 7:30pm
Saturday, December 19 at Guelph 2pm
Monday, December 28 Erie 2pm

Wednesday, January 6 at Erie 7pm
Thursday, January 7 at Niagara 7:30pm
Saturday, January 16 Niagara 7pm
Monday, January 18 Windsor 2pm
Friday, January 22 at Mississauga 7:30pm
Wednesday, January 27 at Owen Sound 7pm
Friday, January 29 Brampton 7pm
Saturday, January 30 London 7pm

Saturday, February 6 Owen Sound 7pm
Wednesday, February 10 at Guelph 7pm
Friday, February 12 at Saginaw 7pm
Friday, February 19 Mississauga 7pm
Saturday, February 20 Sarnia 7pm
Thursday, February 25 at Windsor 7pm

Tuesday, March 2 at Saginaw 10:45am
Friday, March 5 SS Marie 7pm
Saturday, March 6 Saginaw 7pm
Thursday, March 11 at Windsor 7pm
Friday, March 12 at SS Marie 7:30pm

Photo by Walt Dmoch

Kinkaid named ECAC Goaltender of the Week again

For the second time in three weeks freshman goaltender Keith Kinkaid has been named ECAC Goaltender of the Week. Technically this is his second award in three weeks, but in the week where he did not win the award the Dutchmen did not play. He helped lead Union to the RPI Tournament championship this past weekend. He was named the tournament's top goaltender as he made 30 saves (including three in the shootout) against LSSU in a 1-0 shootout win (his first career shutout), and then made 25 saves against RPI in a 5-4 overtime win.

I think it's pretty safe to say that Kinkiad has jumped over Milan and is now Union's top goaltender.

2009 NDSF Annual Meeting

On Wednesday, November 18th, the North Dakota State Fair welcomed 18 guests and 68 delegates to its Annual Meeting at the State Fair Center in Minot. Gary Knell, State Fair Board President, began the meeting with a short welcome on behalf of the City of Minot and by introducing the eight State Fair board members whom he serves alongside. The board members in attendance included Charles Meikle of Spiritwood, Lee Ann Karsky of Dickinson, Kandi Mikkelson of Minot, Neil Fleming of Cavalier, Dennis Wendel of LaMoure, Connie Hanson of Devils Lake, Butch Haugland of Ambrose and Kelly Hanson of Hannaford.

The annual report and audit were reviewed by State Fair Manager, Bob Wagoner. Wagoner also went over 2009 State Fair highlights and complimented the staff for their work on the record setting Fair. Wagoner predicts another successful Fair for 2010, which is scheduled for July 23 through July 31.

Each year the State Fair Board of Directors nominates individuals to receive the State Fair's highest level of honor and recognition by being chosen as a North Dakota State Fair Honorary Member. This year Senator Karen Krebsbach of Minot and Tim Clark of Fargo were both awarded this honor.

The State Fair is exceptionally grateful for Senator Krebsbach's on-going support of all things State Fair. Krebsbach led the charge helping rally support for the State funding of the Grandstand. Tim Clark served on the North Dakota State Fair Board for more than 16 years. Representing District 2, he took a special interest in keeping agriculture at the heart of the Fair.

Other business covered at the annual meeting included the re-election of three board members. Neil Fleming, Connie Hanson and Gary Knell will serve another term representing their districts. Jerry Iverson, former North Dakota State Fair Manager and current Grandstand Project Manager, was in attendance to provide an update on the grandstand construction progress. Iverson stated the exceptional weather has been the key attribute for keeping the project on schedule and within budget. Iverson also commented on the uniqueness of this project as a construction manager has been hired and 27 different bid requests have been utilized to ensure not only adherence to the budget but also ensure the completion by July 1, 2010.

Dates for the 2010 North Dakota State Fair are July 23-31. We’re hoping to announce our 2010 concert lineup in January! More information is available at www.ndstatefair.com.

Game 11 (29Nov09)

A Well-Executed team victoryBlack 8 - Ahsan, George, Sam, Rocky, Leo, Edwin, Chris S (Goalie - wall side)White 6 - Jimmy, Dave G, Shakeeb(?), Imran, Jordano, Peter K (Goalie - bleacher side)Team Black executed almost perfectly, even though they were probably offensively outgunned by the White squad. The diggers on Team Black managed to possess the ball more often than the Whites and it showed in

BU comes back to tie Cornell

 


In front of 18,200 fans at Madison Square Garden last night the Terriers and Big Red tie 3-3 in yet another comeback.

Cornell gabbed the lead only two and half minutes into the first period,on the power play. The goal came after the Terriers blocked several Cornell shots. Sean Whitney pick up the puck in the right wing circle off one of the blocked shots and fired it past BU goalie Grant Rollheiser. From my point of view it looked like a very weak goal. It looked like all Rollheiser had to do was put his glove up to block the shot.

Cornell would get a second goal before the end of the first when Locke Jillson scored on a brake-away. The Terriers Cory Trivino took a shot and Cornell's Patrick Kennedy grabbed the rebound a made a perfect  past to Jillson. That caught the Terriers deep in their own zone which sprang Jillson who beat Rolliesrer five hole.

After that Terrier's head coach Jack parker used his time out. After Parker called the timeout BU out played the Big Red in all fazes of the game.

In the Second Cornell had a power play the would end up having two goals scored during the man advantage. No it was not a five minute major. David Warsofsky took the puck into the Cornell zone to kill some time. Warsofsky took what seemed to be an innocent slap shot on goal. Instead when Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens tried to stop it with his leg, he tipped it and the puck ended up in the back of the net. With the goal Warsofky is tied for the most short handed goals in the country with two.

As I said there where two goals scored on the Cornell power play, this time on the Big Red side. Whitney took a slap shot that got deflected right on to the stick of a wide open Blake Gallagher who slid it in giving Cornell their two goal lead back.

In the third the Terriers would once comeback and tie the game. BU took their first step in the comeback process when Nick Bonino took the puck away at center ice and skated in to the zone. Bonino tried to pass it over to Connolly but instead the puck hit off a Cornell stick and in to the goal.

With 1:58 left the Terriers had a 5 on 3 man advantage for 39 seconds. Parker decided to pull Rollhieser and give the Terriers a six skater.

The move paid off because with 51.2 seconds left the Terrier's Chris Connolly scored in a large scrum in front of the net to tie the game at three.

USCHO recap
USCHO box score
Boston Globe recap
Boston Herald recap 
Go Terriers.com recap
The Boston Hockey Blog recap
The Terrier Hockey Fan Blog recap

Canucks

Dutchmen win RPI Tournament with 5-4 overtime victory

Sounds like this game was an absolute classic! I wish I could have seen it. Even though Union blew a 3-0 lead and then a two goal lead with 3 minutes to go you have to give them credit for overcoming adversity and pulling it out in overtime. The play of senior captain and tournament MVP Jason Walters was also a great sign considering he was suspended for last nights game. With two goals (including the game-winner) and two assists tonight he basically put the shorthanded Dutchmen on his back and led them to victory. This could be a big stepping stone for the Dutchmen as they proved that they could win without their top 4 scorers and overcome a game-tying goal with no time remaining. Coach Leaman can't be happy with the penalties and the late RPI comeback, but he must be happy with the effort of his depleted team.

For those who do not know, after Leaman benched Walters and Buote last night for violating team rules he benched four of his top scorers tonight for the same infraction. Each Mario Valery-Trabucco (5-9-14), Adam Presizniuk (4-7-11), John Simpson (2-7-9), and Brian Yanovitch (4-4-8) watched tonight's game from the stands. So, the Dutch played with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. You would figure that without over 33% of their team scoring out of the lineup tonight that the Dutchmen would have some trouble scoring, especially since they couldn't score a goal last night, but thanks to likes of Walters, Zajac, and Boileau they were able to score 5 goals.

I give Leaman a lot of credit for having the gall to do this for a tournament championship (especially against RPI), and for being able to pull his team together to win. I still haven't had any word on what the team violation was, but if I had to guess based on the guys suspended and the time of year I'd say that it might have to do with some type of "freshman initiation," which is common in Division I sports. The reason I predict this is because 3 seniors, 2 juniors, and 1 sophomore were suspended for violations that occurred last week where the Dutchmen had no games, and minimal practices due to finals. This formula creates a lot of free time for the players. I doubt these are academic infractions considering it's usually freshman who have trouble handling their academics since they're new to the scene. I could be totally wrong on this, it's just speculation.

All in all this was one memorable night with a lot of story lines. The most important being that the Dutchmen won their second tournament championship in as many years, both in which they had to beat RPI in the tournament. Should be one heck of a game when the Dutchmen and Engineers faceoff when it counts on December 9th.

After a unbeaten month of November (3-0-3) the Dutchmen will start the final month of the calender year with two HUGE league games at home against Colgate and Cornell, who tied Boston University last night at a sold out Madison Square Garden. Then just four days (Wednesday, December 9) after the meeting with Cornell the Dutch will take on RPI at Houston Field House for the third time this season.

Here's the game recap from UnionAthletics.com: http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/11/28/MICE_1128092118.aspx

Here's Ken Schott's thoughts on the game: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/nov/29/union-rpi-postgame-report/

Post-game reactions courtesy of Ken Schott:
http://www.dailygazette.com/videos/2009/nov/29/322/

Game Day Preview: BU & Cornell at MSG

 Today the Terriers, and the Big Red of the University of Cornell, will play in the Red Hot Hockey game. This is a showcase game that will be played in front of 18,000+ in Madison Square Garden. The game is named Red Hot Hockey because both schools sport red in their uniforms. This is only the second time BU and Cornell have played in the Red Hot Hockey game. The last was in 2007 when the Terrier won 6-3.

The video is of the last Red Hot Hockey back in 2007.

Cornell, on the season is 6-2-0, and in second place in the ECAC. They are only behind Quinnipiac, the surprise of the season, in my mind. Cornell has win's over Niagara, Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown, Princeton, and Colgate. The losses were against Yale, Quinnipiac and an exhibition loss to the USA under 18 team.

The Terrier are coming off a thrilling win in overtime at Harvard. Bu is 4-7-1 on the season with wins over Michigan, Umass Lowell, Merimack, and Harvard. The tie came against UNH.

I will be at the game with my camera and will offer a pictoral of the game.

Lets go back
Through the  history of both Cornell and BU there has bean a thick rivalry between the tow schools. Back before the creation of Hockey East the Terriers and Big Read would paly each other three times a year in the ECAC. The rivalry was at is peak in the late '6os and early '70s when the two schools battled in two NCAA national title games. Cornell beat the Terriers 4-1 in 1967 and BU got Revenge in 1972 by beating the Big Red by the same score.

Leaman hates the shootout

After Union's victory over Lake Superior State on Friday Coach Leaman didn't sound too happy. Why would he upset after a win that sends his team to a championship game you ask? Well it's because he is against the idea of ending a game by shootout.

Read Ken Schott's clip about Leaman and his thoughts about the shootout:
http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/nov/27/union-lake-superior-state-postgame-report/

Personally in this case I happen to agree because it was in a tournament. No tournament game should be ended in a skills competition since no points are at stake, and the team that scores the most goals is the better team that night and deserves to advance to the next round. But, in regular season games I would like to see the NCAA adopt the NHL' s overtime policy where there is a 5 minute 4-on-4 overtime, which is then followed by a five man shootout to decide the winner. The 4-on-4 overtime opens up the ice for the two teams, which allows for greater scoring opportunities. Also, shootouts are also fun for the fans. I feel that the NHL's new overtime policies was one of the best rule changes in the post-lockout era.

Union to face rival RPI in tournament championship

After the Dutchmen pulled out a shootout victory over Lake Superior State, RPI took the ice and beat Bentley 5-2. The championship game will take place tonight at 7pm at the Houston Field House.

It looks like RPI got exactly what they wanted when they scheduled their first round game against Bentley, the weakest team in the tournament. The Engineers out shot their opponent 34-17.

Here's the game summary from the RPI site:
http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2009/11/27/MHOCK_1127094208.aspx

Read Ken Schott's thoughts on the game and the championship matchup:
http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/schott/2009/nov/27/rpi-bentley-postgame-report/

Port Huron native commits to Spitfires

The Windsor Spitfires are proud to announce that they have signed American goaltender Jack Campbell to join the Spitfires for the 2010-2011 season.

Campbell, a 17-year-old Port Huron native, is currently playing in the U.S. NTDP’s Under-18 program and won a gold medal with Team USA in the IIHF Men’s World Under-18 Championship this past April in Fargo, North Dakota. He was also selected to the All-Tournament team for his outstanding performance in the Under-18’s. He is also the top rated USHL goaltender in the NHL’s 2009 fall preliminary rankings for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Campbell was originally selected by the Spitfires in the sixth round, 108th overall, in the 2008 OHL Priority Selection.

“We are excited to add Jack to our team next season," said Windsor GM Warren Rychel. "He is one of the best goalies in the world in his age and one of the top rated goalies for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Jack is a world-class, high level talent as well as a quality kid who will flourish in the Windsor Spitfires program."

Photo by Dave Arnold/USA Hockey

Rutkowski out to motivate Jets

It’s not the size of the lion in the fight, but the size of the fight in the lion.

Such is the case with Metro Jets rookie forward Joe Rutkowski – all 5-feet-9 and 155 pounds of him.

Signed as a free agent out of Metro’s tryout camp at the end of last summer, Rutkowski has been a pleasant surprise for the Jets this season.

“Ruts is a guy who does all the little things for us – that's what makes him so effective,” said Metro coach Ryan Skop. “I think his biggest asset and value to us is that he works hard, he'll do whatever it takes to win, and he's a good competitor. On the bench or when he's on the ice, the guys on our bench take notice. They see Ruts finishing checks, getting pucks deep, blocking shots, doing the dirty work, and it motivates the rest of the guys to follow his lead.”

Rutkowski, an 18-year-old from St. Clair Shores, (not related former Jets forward Chad Rutkowski), has improved in huge strides since early September.

“The difference between now and season's start is that Joe has learned to push himself to get better,” Metro GM Butch Wolfe said. “He’s a tenacious player and competes every night. Maybe not the most gifted player, but he uses everything he has.”

Small in stature, but big on heart, Rutkowski knew before the season started that playing for the Jets could help him develop more of his overall game to find a niche in the Central States Hockey League.

“I remember after the last skate on Saturday at main camp, Ruts sent me a text message and just wanted to let me know how badly he wanted to play for the Jets,” said Skop. “He was willing to do just about anything to get a chance. I let him know what we were looking for and he came out Sunday, flew around the ice and blasted guys all over. He's the type of guy who embodies the personality and character we want. He’s a competitor who wants to be here. I think it’s safe to say that it's worked out well for him and us.”

And if being a part of the Jets means playing on the third and fourth lines and on the penalty kill, Rutkowski accepts that.

“Ruts is great for his role,” Skop said. “Sure, who wouldn't want to score 50? But I really don't think that even crosses his mind. He's not incapable of scoring, though. When he gets chances, he can bury the puck, but he's just as content mucking it up along the walls, chipping the puck deep, blasting an opposing D-man, and going for a change. Every team needs guys like that. You can't win without guys like that.

“I think a good reason for his willingness to do these types of things is his personality. He's a really laid back guy, always relaxed, always laughing. He's great in the room and helps keep things loose, while still staying focused on his job.”

And playing bigger than he really is, too.

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

The Jets took to the road last weekend for a single game Friday night in Toledo before heading to suburban Cleveland Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

After losing 9-1 to Toledo and then 6-0 to Cleveland in the first game of that series, Metro roared back to beat Cleveland , 3-1, on Sunday afternoon.

“Even after a bad start to the weekend, we were still able to put a good game together Sunday,” said Skop. “Our guys did a good job of forgetting about Friday and Saturday, and putting the work in on Sunday. It was a good character check. It would have been real easy to pack it in on Sunday and go home with our tail tucked between our legs. I like the way we responded in putting a solid 60-minute effort in.”

Josh Magnan scored twice (for a team-best 14 goals) and Ian Mercer stopped all 29 shots he faced after taking over for R.J. Heath after Heath allowed the lone Cleveland goal 39 seconds into the game. Jon Wickersham added an empty-net goal to boost the Jets to 6-13-0-2 on the season.

Skop stopped short, however, in saying that beating Cleveland was the team’s biggest victory this year.

“I don't know if I would call this the biggest win of the season because right now, with where we're at in the standings, they're all big wins,” he said. “What it does do, though, is prove to our guys that if they put the work in, we can compete with and beat the top teams in our league. Now it's just a matter of doing that on a more consistent basis.”

Metro plays just one game this weekend in hosting Motor City on Sunday afternoon at Lakeland Arena for a 1:20 p.m. faceoff. The Jets have defeated the Chiefs in both of their games this season so far.

JET FUEL

After naming three alternate captains several weeks ago, the Jets have officially named rookie defenseman Mike Corder as the team captain and he will wear the ‘C’ starting this weekend.

“Mike is definitely the team captain,” Wolfe said. “He works extremely hard and is selfless. He challenges his teammates to get on board when they begin to wonder.”

Skop agreed.

“Cords is just a competitor and he'll do anything to win,” said Skop. “He’s a team-first guy. Not the most talented, but he’s the guy I count on to bring his best every night, and he does. He’s also one of our hardest workers and is just a good all-around team guy.”

Alternate captains remain Wickersham and Brett Grech.

In another roster move, the Jets released rookie defenseman Matt Zacharias this week.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Forward Zeke Costello, who played for the Jets during the 2003-2004 season, has one assist in three games thus far as a senior at Division III Nichols College .

Costello, whose father, Fred, is a former coach of the Jets, played for the NAHL’s Traverse City North Stars and Texarkana Bandits after graduating from the CSHL.

Photo by Andy Grossman

Union advances to RPI Tournament championship game with shootout win

After a scoreless 65 minutes Mario Valery-Trabucco scored the only goal of the shootout to send the Dutchmen to the championship game where they will face the winner of the RPI-Bentley game. Freshman goaltender Keith Kinkaid made 30 saves for his first career shutout, along with stopping all three of Lake State's shooters in the shootout. The game will officially go down as a tie. LSSU's Kyle Haynes had a great opportunity to win the game for the Lakers with under one minutes left in overtime, but whiffed on his shot with an open net.

Even though I was not at the game (I'm enjoying my winter break at home), I did get to listen to the majority of the game on the radio. From what I can tell it was a pretty unexciting and sluggish game even though each team had a combined 60 shots on net. But, you have to be happy with the way Kinkaid played (it looks like most of you got what you wanted in goal), and advancing to the championship game. Hopefully this will repeat scenario of what happened in last year's Governor's Cup where Union advanced to the championship game with a shootout victory over RPI, and then won the tournament with a win over Colgate. Personally, I'd like to see RPI win tonight because Union-RPI games are always fun and it would be a stronger test for the Dutchmen considering RPI is better than Bentley on paper.

For those who haven't heard or didn't notice during the game senior captains Jason Walters and Andrew Buote did not dress tonight due to team violations. Supposedly more players violated the rule and will not play tomorrow. I haven't heard any word on what the infraction was. It is interesting that both of the players who sat out tonight were senior captains. Maybe Wakita, Schreiber, Matheson, and/or Presizniuk will be out tomorrow.

If RPI wins the Dutchmen will play at 7pm tomorrow, but if Bentley wins they will play for the championship at 4pm.

Here's the game recap from UnionAthletics.com:
http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/11/27/MICE_1127093453.aspx

Here's video of the shooout along with post-game interviews:
http://www.dailygazette.com/videos/2009/nov/27/319/

Rangers host Metal Jackets this weekend

Following their first off-week of the season, the Marquette Rangers return to Lakeview Arena this Friday and Saturday hosting the Motor City Metal Jackets in North American Hockey League action.

Motor City skated last year as the Motor City Machine and changed their nickname after new owners took over the franchise during this past off-season.

Marquette comes in to the weekend trailing first place Traverse City by three points in the NAHL North Division race, while the Metal Jackets are locked in a battle for third place with the Janesville Jets.

The Metal Jackets and Jets split two games last weekend in Janesville, Wis.

The Rangers and Motor City met earlier this year at Yack Arena in Wyandotte with the Rangers sweeping the Metal Jackets 4-3 in a shootout on Friday October 2 and then shutting out Motor City the next night, 2-0.

Garrett Ladd, who committed earlier this week to play collegiately at Bemidji State University, continues to lead the Rangers is scoring with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists. Andrew Kolb and Marquette native Collin Saint-Onge share second place in team scoring with 19 points each. Three other Rangers sport double-digit scoring numbers on the year.

Motor City is led by R.J. Klieman’s 22 points on the year with Steve Brancheau and Cody Wydo also putting up double-digits in scoring on the season.

The weekend series will also feature several promotions at Lakeview Arena, including the team's second celebrity goalie contest on Saturday with one lucky fan in attendance winning a flat-screen television by guessing how many saves the celebrity goaltender will make at intermission.
Face off each night is at 7:30 p.m.

Spirit to welcome fan No. 1 million

The Saginaw Spirit is celebrating its eighth season in Saginaw and this Saturday, the team will be recognizing a team milestone in surpassing one million fans.

The team will hold a recognition ceremony at this Saturday’s home game prior to the start of the second period. Eight-year Spirit season ticket holder Barry Chatland will represent all of the Spirit fans that have attended games since the team’s inception in 2002.

"Thanksgiving weekend is certainly the appropriate time to commemorate the Spirit's one millionth fan,” stated Spirit partner and president Craig Goslin. "The Saginaw Spirit ownership and front office staff is grateful, humbled and honored by the support of the loyal base of Spirit fans that are now over one million strong. This milestone is one that has been attained only one other time in our region's history, when the Saginaw Gears were in their heyday in the '70s.”

“It’s no surprise that the fans in Saginaw and the Great Lakes Bay Region have embraced this organization,” stated Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Bob Van Deventer. “They have been a terrific addition to the fun and quality of life we have available to us in this region. They are a wonderful option for family entertainment and we energetically promote their success to companies considering expanding or locating to this area. They represent a ‘big time’ entertainment venue and are a valuable tool for economic development for the entire region.”

“Considering the following points the Spirit franchise has attained during the past seven seasons – (1) the Saginaw Spirit fan experience is rated one of the best in the CHL, (2) the economic impact that the Spirit have had on our region has been estimated to be over $11 million annually (SCCVB November 2007), (3) The strength of the season ticket, group ticket and corporate sales base ranks near the top of our league in many categories, (4) The game day operations being recognized as one the best in sports with state of the art laser, light and music shows combined with exciting on ice entertainment and off ice promotions, (5) the Saginaw Spirit Charitable Foundation (501c3) franchise to date gifting of cash, tickets, merchandise and community appearances is estimated at over $400,000 in the past seven seasons and (6) the team’s on-ice product is developing into a championship contender," added Goslin.

"It takes a dedicated community of people to make all of this happen."

The TRUTH About Black Friday

In this week's Traffic & Weather!

Injury Report

Finally a week ware everyone should be in the line up. For much of the season the Terriers have been slammed with injury's. It looked like on Tuesday when BU went to play Harvard that maybe they would have a full line up. The only question was Chris Connolly who missed both the New Hampshire games with a separated shoulder. Turns out that Connolly would score the game winning goal in overtime to beat Harvard. The one player that did not play was Alex Chiasson (photo) who was out with the flu. Chiasson, the teams leading goal scorer, should be back in the line up this Saturday night when the Terrier will head to Madison Square Garden to Play Cornell University in the Red Hot Hockey Game.

Terriers Grab Gill

On Thursday the Terriers picked up a highly skilled forward named Sahir Gill. Gill joined a 2010 recruit class that is already full of talent.

Gill is from Abbotsford British Columbia, the same town that former Terrier David Van Der Gulik was from. BU, North Dakota, and Minnesota where Gills final three picks. USHR recently said that Gill was "a quick, skilled 5'10, 180 left shot forward"

Last season Gill was on the first line of the Vernon Vipers as a rookie. He had 18 goals and 21 assist in 54 games. Current Terrier Ryan Santana played with Gill during the Vipers Jr. Canadian Cup championship run last season.

Gill said to a local blog in Chicago, The real Okanagan Hockey Academy Blog  

"Committing to a team like Boston University is very exciting, they have a great program there, and it was just the right fit for me. Playing in Hockey East is something I'm looking forward to, but my focus right now is on the Chicago Steel and working hard every game to help us have success."

Gill Joins Charlie Coyel, Yasin Cisse, Matt Nieto, and Adam Clendening in the 2010 recruit class.

Detroit Lions

Because it's Thanksgiving, and you just never know!

RPI hasn't won their own tournament since 2002

Ed Weaver of The Saratogian speaks about RPI and how they haven't won the RPI Thanksgiving Tournament, the oldest in the nation, since 2002:
http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2009/11/25/sports/doc4b0dce4fa79a0906467079.txt

Looking into the RPI Tournament

The Dutchmen come into the tournament having swept the weekend in the North Country for the first time since 2002-03 two weeks ago and having just finished their finals, so the team should be very refreshed and have no academic distractions. Union will face Lake Superior State in the first round on Friday at 4pm. This will be the first meeting between the two programs. Depending on the outcome against the Lakers the Dutchmen will either face RPI or Bentley. The Dutchmen have gone unbeaten in their past five outings at the Houston Field House dating back to November 2004.

LSSU (6-7-1 overall, 3-6-1-0 CCHA) currently sits in 8th place in the CCHA, which is only 2 points out from last place. Offensively the Lakers are 8th in the league averaging 2.64 goals per game. The offense is led by junior forward Chad Nehring (8-3-11), junior forward Rick Schofield (5-6-11), and senior forward Zac MacVoy (2-9-11). Nehring leads the team with 5 power-play goals, which is also tied for tops in the CCHA. Junior Brian Mahoney-Wilson has started in goal for the Lakers in 13 of their 14 games and has posted a 6-6-1 record with a 2.79 GAA and .911 save percentage. The Lakers have been a team of streaks this year. They won 5 of their first 6 games to start the season, but then went on to go 6 games without a win. In their past three games they have won two games having beat Nebraska-Omaha on the 14th and then split a weekend series with Alaska-Fairbanks last weekend. Last year LSSU went 2-1 against ECAC opponents beating Harvard 6-2 and then splitting games with Colgate as they lost 5-4 and then won 6-1. The Lakers have won the NCAA championship 3 times (1988, 1992, 1994) and were the runners up in 1993.

Here's a link to a preview for the tournament from UnionAthletics.com:
http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/11/23/MICE_1123094548.aspx

Saginaw Guns-n-Hoses game Saturday

The Saginaw Spirit is set to host the third annual Guns -n- Hoses charity hockey game this Saturday, November 28.

The game, sponsored by Gohm Restoration and Mike’s Wrecker, pits local police and firefighters against each other as they raise money for the 100 Club. The charity game starts at 5:30 p.m. at The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, with the Spirit puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. A ticket to the Spirit game gets you into both hockey games.

Fans can purchase an upper level ticket for only $10, with $2.50 going to the 100 Club. These specially priced tickets are available from any of the Guns -n- Hoses players and at the Saginaw Spirit ticket and merchandise store up until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The store is closed for Thanksgiving, but resumes normal business hours Friday. The store is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

“Sponsoring things such as the Guns -n- Hoses is a fun and important way to help out our community,” stated Liz Gohm. “Our firefighters and police organizations are integral parts of our community, and helping them out as they support the various charities in the area is both a pleasure and an honor for myself and the rest of the Gohm family at Gohm Insurance Restoration and the other partners of the Guns -n- Hoses game.”

North Stars host Alpena tonight

The Traverse City North Stars won’t have to go over the river and through the woods to get to their holiday weekend hockey smorgasbord, but after an unscheduled 10-day layoff, it’ll be a happy homecoming on Wednesday at Centre ICE nonetheless.

The Stars and Alpena IceDiggers have been off since Nov. 14 following respective bouts of sickness that forced the postponement of their schedule contest last Friday. They’ll go at it again on Saturday at Centre ICE and Sunday in Alpena to wrap the three-game set.

“We’ve played just four games since Oct. 25,” Traverse City head coach-GM Anthony Palumbo pointed out. “I’d say we’re ready to play, and they’re probably feeling the same way. It’ll be good to get out there and get it going again.”

The IceDiggers snapped a four-game skid in their last outing with a 3-2 win at Motor City, and presently reside in fifth place in the NAHL North Division at 6-15-0. The North Stars are riding a six-game winning streak into the weekend, and sit atop the North at 14-4-1, three points ahead of second-place Marquette. TC has won both meetings so far this season, sweeping a Nov. 6-7 series from the Diggers.

“One thing I think we learned playing them last time was that they’re going to play hard,” Palumbo said. “They’ve got a lot of talent on their roster, a lot of veterans and newcomers who are contributing right off the bat. We’ll have to be prepared to play at their tempo and then some.”

The North Stars reprised their annual Thanksgiving Eve contest this season after playing in the NAHL North Showcase in 2008, and are 2-1 in the three previous such affairs. Traverse City knocked off Alpena by a 6-1 margin in 2007 on the strength of a Nate Urbaniak hat trick, and a 2-1 count in 2006 as hometown product Mike Glaesmer bagged a goal and an assist. The U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad, led by current NHL star Patrick Kane, scored a 5-1 victory on turkey eve in 2005.

Dutchmen serve Thanksgiving dinner at Schenectady YMCA

Monday's dinner was the fifth year in a row the Men's Hockey team participated in this event.

Here's a link with a picture of Captain Mike Wakita from UnionAthletics.com:
http://www.unionathletics.com/news/2009/11/23/MICE_1123093446.aspx

Terriers Win A Thriller In Overtime To Beat Harvard

The Terriers and Crimson played one of the most exciting games of the season tonight in which the Terriers won in overtime.

The photo is of the Terriers celebrating the game winning goal.

In the first the Terriers took the lead on the power play when Nick Bonino found Max Nicastro who took a shot that produced a rebound. Joe Pereira jumped on the rebound and scored to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead. Six Minutes later, Harvard would tie the game when they got some luck from the ref when the puck hit off his skate and resulted in a golden scoring chance in which Conor Morrison pounced on it for his first of four goals on the night. Harvard would get their first of four leads on the night when Kieran Millan gave up the weakest goal of the season when Alex Killorn threw a back-hander on net and Millan missed it with his blocker. The Terriers would tie the game while they were on a five minute power play. David Warsofsky took a shot from the point that was tipped in by Zach Cohen.

In the second Morrison scored his second goal of the game when a he found a rebound in which he back-handed into the net. The Terriers would go 3 for 3 on the power play when Pereira knocked home another rebound, this time from a Kevin Sattenkirk shot.

The third period saw Morrison score his third goal once again on a back hand shot from the slot that beat Millain high glove side. Bu would once again tie the game when Pereira tried a wrap-a-round that ended up in front of the Harvard net and Nick Bonino picked up the rebound and scored.   

It looked as if Harvard had the game in the bag when they scored with only 1:18 left in the third. The Crimson scored when Morrison got a pass in the slot from Chris Hexley in which he one time into the back of the net.

The Terriers pulled Millain with about 40 seconds left. BU would tie the game with 19.5 seconds left when David Warsofsky took a shot that was tipped in by Zach Cohen.

BU would win the game in overtime when  Nick Bonino attempted a wrap-a-round that was stopped. The puck got through to a waiting Chris Connolly who found the back of the net and gave the Terrier the win in overtime.

“We were fortunate enough to get it down low, cycling the puck,” Connolly said. “Nick got it in his favorite position, and I knew it was going to either go in or pop out to the other side. There was a scrum in front, so I figured I’d just wait off to the side and see what happened. I got lucky. It popped right there, and I had a wide open net.”

USCHO recap
USCHO box score
Boston Globe recap
Boston Herald recap

friendly

Hey girls!!!

Nice friendly against NYGS on Monday!!! :D

anw, this blog is kinda dead? LOL.

How Fast Does Your Brain Talks?

"I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up!" - Erma Bombeck

The time it takes for our brains to search for and retrieve the word we want to say has been measured for the first time in history!

Most people think that words and meaning are the two sides of the same coin and that the form of a word is the same as its meaning, or at least, that word and meaning cannot be split. However, this is not the case! Word forms have an existence of their own in the human mind, disconnected, from meaning- at least, for a fraction of a second.

Until now, in the field of speech production, it was unknown when exactly a word form is retrieved by the human brain when, for instance, people have to name a picture.As Professor Guillaume Thierry of Bangor University, one of the paper's authors explains: "If you have to say the word apple upon seeing the picture of an apple, the brain does not access the word form "a-p-p-l-e" instantly, it takes time, and until now, it was unknown exactly how much time it took. Along with colleagues at Pompeau Fabra and Barcelona universities, we measured exactly when word forms are retrieved by the brain. That happens about one fifth of a second after a picture is shown."

Thierry explains: "This is a very short time, but it makes a lot of sense if one considers that the average normal speech rate is about 5 words per second. Surely, if we can produce five words per second in normal speech, it means that we can dig each and every word from memory in about one fifth of a second." Thierry and colleagues hope to understand every stage of word production: analysis of meaning, word access, word retrieval and programming of speech. They also intend to do the same thing in comprehension to reach a full understand of the stages the human mind goes through to understand and produce language.

Their experiment combined picture naming and a technique which measures electrical activity produced by the brain over the scalp. It also pioneered the recording of brain activity over the scalp, while participants spoke out loud. This proved a technical challenge as mouth movements produce electrical noise stronger than the power of signals produced by the brain.

The research is the fruit of collaboration between language laboratories in Barcelona Pompeau Fabra (Spain) and Bangor (UK) universities. Source: http://www.physorg.com/news178216686.html

"When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain!" - Mark Twain

The 7 Disciplines for High Performance

“Over-seriousness is a warning sign for mediocrity and bureaucratic thinking. People who are seriously committed to mastery and high performance are secure enough to lighten up!" - Michael J. Gelb

By Brian Tracy
There are seven disciplines you must develop if you want to achieve all that is possible for you. You can learn these disciplines through practice and repetition until they become automatic.

1. Goal Setting
Every morning, take three to five minutes to write out your top goals in the present tense. Get a spiral notebook for this purpose. By writing out your ten goals at the beginning of each day, you will program them deep into your subconscious mind.
This daily goal writing will activate your mental powers. It will stimulate your mind and make you more alert. Throughout the day, you will see opportunities and possibilities to move more rapidly toward your goals.

2. Planning & Organizing
Take a few minutes, preferably the night before, to plan out every activity of the coming day. Always work from a list. Always think on paper. This is one of the most powerful and important disciplines of all for high performance. Remember: "A Goal Without a Plan is Only a Dream…" If you dream of achieving great things in life, planning for making them a reality on paper is vital to your success!

3. Priority Setting
The essence of all time management, personal management, and life management is contained in your ability to set the proper priorities on the use of your time. This is essential for high performance.

4. Concentration on your Highest-Value Activities
Your ability to work single-mindedly on your most important task will contribute as much to your success as any other discipline you can develop.

5. Exercise & Proper Nutrition
Your health is more important than anything else. By disciplining yourself to exercise regularly and to eat carefully, you will promote the highest possible levels of health and fitness throughout your life.

6. Learning and Growth
Your mind is like a muscle. If you don't use it, you lose it. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.

7. Time for Important People in your Life
Relationships are everything. Be sure that in climbing the ladder of success, you do not find it leaning against the wrong building. Build time for your relationships into every day, no matter how busy you get.

Action Exercise
These 7 disciplines will ensure that you perform at the highest level and get the greatest satisfaction and results from everything you do. Study these 7 disciplines and then make a plan for how you can incorporate each of them into your daily life! It will help you to succeed faster and better!

“It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality!” - Harold S. Geneen

Heart Attack Risk 'Raised by Suppressing Anger'!

Having survived a heart attack at the age of 34 myself (caused by a combination of a neglected flu-virus, being tired and flying for a long time.....), I am always focused on news on causes and prevention of heart attacks. So what about this compelling new study: Men who do not openly express their anger if they are unfairly treated at work double their risk of a heart attack, Swedish research suggests. WOW!

The researchers looked at 2,755 male employees in Stockholm who had not had a heart attack when the study began. They were asked about how they coped with conflict at work, either with superiors or colleagues. The researchers say their study shows a strong relationship between pent-up anger and heart disease.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the researchers called the various strategies for keeping things bottled up, covert coping. The men were asked what methods they adopted: whether they dealt with things head-on, whether they let things pass without saying anything, walked away from conflict, developed symptoms like headache or stomach ache or got into a bad temper at home.

Hospital registers
They were checked for smoking, drinking, physical activity, education, diabetes, job demands and their freedom to take decisions. Their blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels were measured and they were aged 41 on average at the start of the study between 1992 and 1995. Details of whether any of the men subsequently had a heart attack or died as a result of heart disease in the period up to 2003 were gathered from national registers of hospital treatment and deaths. Up to 2003, 47 of the 2,755 men had a heart attack or died from heart disease.

The men who coped by sometimes or often walking away or who often let things pass without saying anything, had double the risk of a heart attack or dying from serious heart disease compared to men who challenged and dealt with the situation head-on.

Developing a headache or stomach ache or getting into a bad temper at home, did not increase the risk of heart attack or heart disease. The researchers believe that anger can produce physiological tensions if it is not released and that these lead to increases in blood pressure which eventually damage the cardiovascular system.

'Conflict situations'
Dr Constanze Leineweber, who led the study from the Stress Research Institute in Stockholm, said: "There has been research before pointing in this direction but the surprise is that the association between pent-up anger and heart disease was such a strong one.

"I think men can't help how they behave in conflict situations - it's not something they think about, it's just how they react instinctively. "If you are smoking and don't exercise you would be much more conscious of the risk." Judy O'Sullivan, senior cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation, said: "Stress itself is not a risk factor for heart and circulatory disease, but some people's responses to stress, such as smoking or overeating, can increase your risk. "We all find different things stressful and symptoms of stress can vary, but the important thing is that we need to find ways of coping with it in our lives in a positive way, whether at work or home."

Is Global Warming Unstoppable?

New theory also says energy conservation doesn't help...

In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions – the major cause of global warming – cannot be stabilized unless the world's economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day.

"It looks unlikely that there will be any substantial near-term departure from recently observed acceleration in carbon dioxide emission rates," says the new paper by Tim Garrett, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences.

Garrett's study was panned by some economists and rejected by several journals before acceptance by Climatic Change, a journal edited by renowned Stanford University climate scientist Stephen Schneider. The study will be published online this week (November 23-27).

The study – which is based on the concept that physics can be used to characterize the evolution of civilization – indicates:

• Energy conservation or efficiency doesn't really save energy, but instead spurs economic growth and accelerated energy consumption.
• Throughout history, a simple physical "constant" – an unchanging mathematical value – links global energy use to the world's accumulated economic productivity, adjusted for inflation. So it isn't necessary to consider population growth and standard of living in predicting society's future energy consumption and resulting carbon dioxide emissions.
• "Stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions at current rates will require approximately 300 gigawatts of new non-carbon-dioxide-emitting power production capacity annually – approximately one new nuclear power plant (or equivalent) per day," Garrett says. "Physically, there are no other options without killing the economy."

Getting Heat for Viewing Civilization as a "Heat Engine"

Garrett says colleagues generally support his theory, while some economists are critical. One economist, who reviewed the study, wrote: "I am afraid the author will need to study harder before he can contribute."

"I'm not an economist, and I am approaching the economy as a physics problem," Garrett says. "I end up with a global economic growth model different than they have." Garrett treats civilization like a "heat engine" that "consumes energy and does 'work' in the form of economic production, which then spurs it to consume more energy," he says.

"If society consumed no energy, civilization would be worthless," he adds. "It is only by consuming energy that civilization is able to maintain the activities that give it economic value. This means that if we ever start to run out of energy, then the value of civilization is going to fall and even collapse absent discovery of new energy sources."

Garrett says his study's key finding "is that accumulated economic production over the course of history has been tied to the rate of energy consumption at a global level through a constant factor." That "constant" is 9.7 (plus or minus 0.3) milliwatts per inflation-adjusted 1990 dollar. So if you look at economic and energy production at any specific time in history, "each inflation-adjusted 1990 dollar would be supported by 9.7 milliwatts of primary energy consumption," Garrett says.

Garrett tested his theory and found this constant relationship between energy use and economic production at any given time by using United Nations statistics for global GDP (gross domestic product), U.S. Department of Energy data on global energy consumption during1970-2005, and previous studies that estimated global economic production as long as 2,000 years ago. Then he investigated the implications for carbon dioxide emissions.

"Economists think you need population and standard of living to estimate productivity," he says. "In my model, all you need to know is how fast energy consumption is rising. The reason why is because there is this link between the economy and rates of energy consumption, and it's just a constant factor."

Garrett adds: "By finding this constant factor, the problem of [forecasting] global economic growth is dramatically simpler. There is no need to consider population growth and changes in standard of living because they are marching to the tune of the availability of energy supplies." To Garrett, that means the acceleration of carbon dioxide emissions is unlikely to change soon because our energy use today is tied to society's past economic productivity.

"Viewed from this perspective, civilization evolves in a spontaneous feedback loop maintained only by energy consumption and incorporation of environmental matter," Garrett says. It is like a child that "grows by consuming food, and when the child grows, it is able to consume more food, which enables it to grow more."

Is Meaningful Energy Conservation Impossible?

Perhaps the most provocative implication of Garrett's theory is that conserving energy doesn't reduce energy use, but spurs economic growth and more energy use. "Making civilization more energy efficient simply allows it to grow faster and consume more energy," says Garrett.

He says the idea that resource conservation accelerates resource consumption – known as Jevons paradox – was proposed in the 1865 book "The Coal Question" by William Stanley Jevons, who noted that coal prices fell and coal consumption soared after improvements in steam engine efficiency.

So is Garrett arguing that conserving energy doesn't matter? "I'm just saying it's not really possible to conserve energy in a meaningful way because the current rate of energy consumption is determined by the unchangeable past of economic production. … If it feels good to conserve energy, that is fine, but there shouldn't be any pretense that it will make a difference." Yet, Garrett says his findings contradict his own previously held beliefs about conservation, and he continues to ride a bike or bus to work, line dry family clothing and use a push lawnmower.

An Inevitable Future for Carbon Dioxide Emissions?

Garrett says often-discussed strategies for slowing carbon dioxide emissions and global warming include mention increased energy efficiency, reduced population growth and a switch to power sources that don't emit carbon dioxide, including nuclear, wind and solar energy and underground storage of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning. Another strategy is rarely mentioned: a decreased standard of living, which would occur if energy supplies ran short and the economy collapsed, he adds.

"Fundamentally, I believe the system is deterministic," says Garrett. "Changes in population and standard of living are only a function of the current energy efficiency. That leaves only switching to a non-carbon-dioxide-emitting power source as an available option."

"The problem is that, in order to stabilize emissions, not even reduce them, we have to switch to non-carbonized energy sources at a rate about 2.1 percent per year. That comes out to almost one new nuclear power plant per day." "If society invests sufficient resources into alternative and new, non-carbon energy supplies, then perhaps it can continue growing without increasing global warming," Garrett says.

Does Garrett fear global warming deniers will use his work to justify inaction? "No," he says. "Ultimately, it's not clear that policy decisions have the capacity to change the future course of civilization."

Source: www.unews.utah.edu

Spirit/OHL enjoy league scholarships

The Ontario Hockey League announced Monday that a total of 355 players have been awarded OHL scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year, with a total of 29 scholarships being awarded to active and graduated Saginaw Spirit players.

The OHL Scholarship Program is funded by the member clubs of the OHL.

"The OHL truly is the best of both worlds as a top tier hockey player can come into our league, find out if he has what it takes to get to the NHL, and if he doesn't he can still fall back on an education scholarship package that is paid for and awaiting his arrival,” stated Saginaw Spirit partner and president Craig Goslin. “The OHL scholarship program is an outstanding opportunity for an elite level athlete."

The 355 OHL academic scholarship recipients consist of 164 student athletes that currently play in the league, with another 191 awarded to graduates that are enrolled in 65 different post-secondary institutions across North America. This figure represents the highest number of players that have ever received an OHL scholarship.

Last season, the league awarded 316.

While playing in the OHL, every player is on a full scholarship which covers tuition, textbooks, compulsory fees and room and board as paid by his OHL member team. Once a player graduates from the OHL, he will receive a minimum scholarship of tuition, textbooks and compulsory fees towards an undergraduate degree for each year played in the league. An OHL scholarship can also be applied to technical or trade Schools, firefighting or EMS, in addition to the traditional university or college four-year undergraduate degree or diploma.

Scholarships can be utilized at any recognized university or college in the world.

Saginaw Spirit graduates:
Ryan Berard, Carleton University
Daniel Borges, George Brown College
Sean Courtney, University of Western Ontario
Ryan Daniels, Wilfrid Laurier University
Chris Ferguson, University of Western Ontario
Jesse Gimblett, University of Alberta
Tyson Gimblett, University of PEI
David Jarram, Conestoga College
Jamie Klie, Acadia University
Joe McCann, University of Western Ontario
Jason McDonough, Humber College
Jordan Ogilvie, Mohawk College
Tim Priamo, University of Guelph
Jean-Michel Rizk, Wilfrid Laurier University
Garrett Sinfield, Wilfrid Laurier University
Kyle Tront, University of Windsor
Steven Whitely, University of Waterloo
Jovica Zelenbaba, University of Waterloo

Each of the above played at least one season with the Saginaw Spirit

Active Spirit players attending university:
Mitch Fillman, Northwood University
Stephen Francella, Northwood University
Tyler Murovich, Delta College
Anthony Peters, Northwood University
Joe Pleckaitis, Northwood University
Barry Sanderson, Northwood University
Cody Sol, Northwood University
Jordan Szwarz, Northwood University
Nick Trecapelli, Northwood University
Joe Underwood, Delta College
Brad Walch, Delta College

Game Day Preview: BU @ Harvard

Tonight the Terriers and Harvard Crimson will play the in annual Tuesday before Thanksgiving game. Last season the tow teams did not meet on this day and it was the first time in a while that the game did not take place. Tonight's game will be played at the Bright Hockey Center home of the Harvard Crimson.

Through the early going of the season the Crimson like the Terrier have struggled. Harvard has a record of 1-4-2 with the lone win coming against Dartmouth whom they beat 5-3. Harvard is coming off a tie at Clarkson and a loss to the Skating Saints of the University of St. Lawrence. The Terrier on the other hand probably played their best game of the season on saturday when they tied UNH 3-3. It should be a close one but I think that the Terriers pull this one out.

The Last Time They Met
The last time the Terriers played the Crimson was in the Beanpot semi finals. The Terrier won the game 4-3 on a power play goal By Jason Lawrence. Harvard did have a 2-0 lead going into the second period only to see it disappear as the game went on.
Click here for a video recap of the Beanpot Final.  


Looking Back
Last night former Terrier Matt Gilroy scored his third goal of the season on a wrist shot. This gave the New York Rangers a 6-3 lead at the time.

American Music Awards

As you all may know, the American Music Awards were on ABC last night and some of the North Dakota State Fair’s talent were among the winners. Taylor Swift won many titles, unsurprisingly, but her big accomplishment was winning Artist of the Year and beating Michael Jackson in the process. The other titles she has under her belt include Country’s Favorite Album and Favorite Female Artist, Adult Contemporary Favorite Artist, and Pop Rock Favorite Female Artist. The group Gloriana had some glory of their own last night when they won the fan voted award, T-Mobile BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST.

Click HERE for the AMA's homepage.

Marquette captain to Bemidji State

Marquette Rangers forward Garrett Ladd has become the first player from this years’ squad to make a commitment to play college hockey next season as he committed to Bemidji State on Monday.

“I am excited about the chance the coaching staff at Bemidji is giving me,” said Ladd after making his decision. “Like all of us who play juniors, it has been a lifelong dream of mine and my family to play DI hockey, and I am going to make the most of this great opportunity.”

Bemidji State is in their final season as a member of College Hockey America. The Beavers will join the Western Collegiate Hockey Association starting with the 2010-11 season. The Beavers are currently ranked No. 6 nationally and sport a 10-1-1 record on the season.

Ladd, a Fenton native and team captain, leads the Rangers in scoring so far this season with 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists in 18 games. Ladd is also ranked in the top 20 in overall scoring among all 19 NAHL teams through this week of action. For his career in Marquette, Ladd has 34 goals and 65 assists for a total of 99 points in just over two full seasons.

Ladd is also the first Michigan native to sign with BSU since the program achieved Division I status 10 years ago.

For all of his scoring numbers, Rangers head coach Kenny Miller says Ladd has also become a true leader in the locker room as well as on the ice.

“Garrett is the type of player that every coach loves to coach,” Miller said. “Garrett competes in every way possible both on and off the ice, he is a tireless worker and he deserves this opportunity. As an organization, we couldn’t be happier for Garrett and his family. His hard work these past three seasons both on and off the ice have really paid off for him.

"Not only is Bemidji State getting a top recruit as a player, they are getting an even better young man.”

Photo - RJ Meyer/NAHL

Czarnik leaves Michigan for Plymouth

The Plymouth Whalers announced today the acquisition of 19-year-old center Robbie Czarnik from the Oshawa Generals in exchange for a 10th round pick and a conditional second round pick from Windsor in 2011.

Czarnik – from Washington – was originally selected by Oshawa in the sixth round of the 2006 Ontario Hockey League draft. Czarnik never played in Oshawa, opting instead to play for the National Team Developmental Program in Ann Arbor. In two seasons with the NTDP from 2006-08, Czarnik scored 32 goals with 27 assists for 59 points in 114 games.

Czarnik moved to the University of Michigan program in 2008 and played there through the start of this season. In all, Czarnik scored eight goals with 14 assists for 22 points in 51 games with the Wolverines.

Czarnik was selected in the third round (63rd overall) by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

“We are excited to add Robbie to our lineup,” said Whalers coach-GM Mike Vellucci. “His greatest asset is his speed and we look forward to developing him for the next level. What a great opportunity this is for Robbie to continue his education and play in the number one developmental league for the National Hockey League.”

Czarnik – who will wear number 27 - will join the Whalers for practice on Tuesday and is expected to make his Plymouth debut on Wednesday when the Whalers host the Windsor Spitfires at 7:05 p.m. at Compuware Arena.

Photo courtesy UM Photo Services

Algonac native commits to Broncos

USHL Press Release

The Sioux City Musketeers have announced that defenseman Dan Dekeyser has committed to Western Michigan University and will attend the school beginning in the fall of 2010.

The 19-year-old native of Algonac has appeared in seven games this season and recorded four points (1g, 3a). He posted a three-game point streak from October 9-16, which included the game-winning goal in the 4-2 win vs. Team USA on October 16th, the Musketeers first win of the season.

"Our organization is extremely happy for Dan and very pleased about the opportunity that Western Michigan has offered him," said Luke Strand, Musketeers head coach. "He has a good upside with unique offensive and defensive skill sets that he brings to the game."

Two other current USHL players are also committed to attend Western Michigan University - Chicago Steel goaltender Nick Pisellini and Omaha Lancers defenseman Dennis Brown.

Photo - USHL Images

Game 10 (22Nov09)

Less Firepower or better goaltending?Black 8 - Jimmy, George, Edwin, Rocky, Battle, Chris S (Goalie - bleacher side)White 5 - Ahsan, Dave G, Pete G, Imran, Mauro, Peter K (Goalie - wall side)In one of the more evenly matched games this year, team Black went up quickly 3-0 only to have the Whites tie at 3-3. After that point, team Black went back on top and never trailed again.Jimmy had one of his