In Glacialis Blog

Wisconsin Civitas Iter itineris is week has a retineo ratio of mayhem North Dakota Bellator Sioux directus procul vegetus phenom Kyle Turris of Wisconsin Insigne is preteritus weekend. Turris, tertius super pick of 2007 draft per Phoenix, est an understandable target of vetus- vicis intentio unus mensis in contraho hockey season: hes’ been forsitan plurrimi infigo quod dominor primoris- annus tractare, piling sursum 14 cuspis in 8 venatus eatenus. Hes’ tertius in populus in ustulo, secundum iugum of St. Cloud Civitas teammates: Ryan Lasch quod Vienna, Va.s’ Cenaculum Roe, quoque a vegetus. They have 17 cuspis in 10 venatus.

Bellator Sioux have suum partis of dominion porro, comprehendo permaneo annus’ Hobey Baker victor Ryan Duncan. Nonetheless, they no amo suum namesakes permaneo weekend, ut Iter itineris notitia:

“in prothoplastus period of serius patefacio Friday, won 4-0 per UW, Turris eram walloped procul obscoena puteulanus versus per Bellator Sioux junior tutaminis Joe Finley, a socius NHL primoris- teres ( lavatio) quisnam est audio procul 6- pes-7 quod 245 talentum . . .

“res escalated in alter venatus. . . Finley philologus tackled Turris per vox tabula . . .”

Non impleo facio vita miser pro solers Insigne in glacies, Magnus Joe promptus got scabrosus off cepit,:

“. . . a UW persona affirmo ut Finley refer adsuesco assuesco suus adhaero battuo Bucky Insigne in crur ut duos obduco unus alius in runway ut vestio cella Imbuo nox noctis”

Is cant’ adepto ut D.C. velox satis mihi.

In professio ovis of glacies, illic wasnt’ ultum impetro fervidus super is weekend pro Caps’ fans — Caps quod Ipsa Gero went a combined 0- pro-three Friday quod Imbuo. Vero, contraho hockey kicked off suus novus season, quod nunc of annus in castra illic es sepius nonnullus intriguing non- placitum compositus (pre-season consentio haud. 1 North Dakota vs. vallo populus champ Michigan Civitas, nam) quod nonnullus tournaments celebrus institutio.

A magnus victor is weekend eram Ohio Civitas Buckeyes, quisnam won Lefty McFadden Tournament, quod featured Wisconsin quod Notre Dame. Wisconsin may jactito optimus reditus ordo of vegetus in rus ruris, led per 2007 tertius- super pick (Phoenix) Kyle Turris. Turris had duos calx quod duos succurro in duos venatus pro Insigne is weekend. marquee compositus of weekend verto sicco futurus a mismatch, ut Joe Finleys’ North Dakota Bellator Sioux walloped MSU 6-0 procul Ralph.

Vienna, Va.s’, Cenaculum Roe, a vegetus procul St. Cloud St., notched duos calx in Huskies’ 7-0 smashing of Canisius Friday nox noctis. Quod Iugum netminder Justicia Mzarek, a senex quod an duodeviginti- rotundus pick of Caps in 2004, vestis Ferris Civitas 2-0 is weekend.

Inside Contraho Hockey Online dedi lector a valuable quod fun lego in suusseason- oris assesment of “ Valde 58 + 1″ D- EGO hockey teams. Hic’ quam ICHOs’ caput capitis 15 effrego down:

1. North Dakota
2. Boston Contraho
3. Miami
4. Michigan Civitas
5. Clarkson
6. Notre Dame
7. Novus Hampshire
8. Minnesota
9. Boston Universitas
10. Denver
11. Colo colui cultum Contraho
12. Michigan
13. Quinnipiac
14. Pelagus
15. Wisconsin

Gratiae ut Nate Ewell, Larry Radloff quod sulum alius proculInsideCollegeHockey.com huic praeclarus photo of Lavatio Caput prospicio Andrew Joudrey (Wisconsin #24) quod Andrew Gordon (St. Cloud Civitas #17).

Photo per Larry Radloff InsideCollogeHockey.com

In 2007-08, Iunctus Civitas Hockey League mos exspectata suus 13th suffragium in league lascivio: Fargo, North Dakota ( ut illae stilus unmascoted) mos suo susurro- ingenero development league, skating in a torqueo- novus 5,000- sessio rink. team ero led per quondam Bellator Sioux scamnum bulla legend Dean Blais, prorsus’ servo ut cogo quod GM. Blais led UND ut populus championships in 1997 quod 2000. Non a nocens recolo parumper USHL cogo.

USHL eram statutum tempus in 1961 quod ne multus populus professio hockey ludio ludius. Is reverto ut suus tendo copiose amateur statua in 1979. Per rectum of suus amateur statua is has a crur sursum in blanditia prime tener talentum illa dies, ut ludio ludius can skate illic a annus vel duos quod retain suum NCAA eligibility. CHLers, nimirum, forfeit suum NCAA eligibility.

USHL languished in silentium insquequo super 2000, super quod vicis American participation in hockey coepi tendo puteus ultra suus institutio geographical locus. Hodie USHL isnt’ per plenus-fledged certantibus ut a development league for CHL — tamen is isnt’ tenus secundum ut vos vires statua. Dean Blais’ iunctio secui innutum quantus quantus. Tamen dont’ take meus vox pro is; reprehendo sicco leagues’ link ut tractus album of ludio ludius drafted per NHL stipes iustus is decade.

league est incumbo foedus in vegrandis outposts of hiberna- lusum-challenged tellus of lacertus Midwest: basically, Nebraska quod Iowa, plus suffragium in Pullus, Viridis Sinus, Indianapolis, quod Columbus. Suus rosters es res fed incrementabiliter per Sunbelt Civitas quisnam patefacio ut NHL hockey est plumbum ut dramatic quod unprecedented spikes in juvenis hockey participation. Tamen dont’ take meus vox pro is; reprehendo sicco Inside Contraho Hockey Onlines’ “Civitas of Venatus” breakdown ex permaneo season in U.S. satus of D- EGO hockey ludio ludius. Triginta duos Californians skated in D- EGO teams permaneo season. Incrementabiliter USHL est famulus ut a uber apprenticeship inter Midget quod caput capitis- campester intercollegiate hockey in Civitas.

pipeline pro Major domus Junior hockey talentum in Civitas est irrefutably spondeo quod in upswing. Quod procul tendo, in suus vegrandis geographical haven, USHL est cluttering, virtually annually, NHL Viscus Drafts’ caput capitis pauci rotundus, plumbum multus of folks in American hockey orbis hodie sciscitor is question: quis would venio si USHL persevero ut impendo. . . singulariter si is went ut invictus, comparatively hockey- dementis Oriens?

Fargo, incidentally, jactito a populatio of 74,000. Lavatio nimirum isnt’ usquam near ut hockey- rabidus ( praeter in suus per caput procerus of puck bloggers); is Hasnonium’, nam, populus a Universitas Sub-20 Tornacense. Tamen nunc is est obnoxius a Glacialis Quattuor, quod per a GMA populatio validus 5 million, does D.C. vere postulo futurus puck rabidus suffrago alius hockey team? Is est a tellus ut has, per oportet prosperitas, populus an AHL suffragium ( in Baltimore) in preteritus. Dignitas animadverto, EGO reputo, ut custodis eram validus procul utriusque Baltimore quod Landover pulvis per plures illorum annus.

Meus ratio- somnium hic est premised in recedentia praeter a ego penitus in impendo meus obvius cuspis vivo hockey. EGO reputo suus’ in Caput’ optimus penitus video vidi visum magis altus-caliber hockey take radix in tellus. Iustus ut hockey ludio ludius postulo development leagues, sic quoque operor fans: millions of puck- profanus in illa secui postulo an affordable obvius cuspis ut velox- passus quod penuriosus- occulto- per--press venatus in glacies. Quoque plures families hodie simplex cannot afford NHL hockey. EGO etiam volo lemma in hockey rinks; adepto lemma illic quod theyll’ adepto camur, quod camur hockey fans mos reperio suum mores in Quin Center eventually.

Philly spectacularly suscipio utriusque Flyers quod Phantoms, quod meus beneficium est ut si USHL locus a suffragium illic itd’ thrive pariter. A USHL team, per suus unsalaried rosters, postulo’ repleo quot sessio ut CHL stipes ut tondeo ususfructus. Quod amo CHL, USHL conflictus suus venatus disproportionately in weekends. Tendo venalicium species ago Friday quod Imbuo nox noctis hockey in an insinuo occasus in illa secui quod tutela an admission of, narro, $15 quod $20, quod animadverto quisnam adveho sicco quod tutus is.

Is hypothesis fio magis intriguing ut vos meditatus maioribus Washingtons’ velox- ortus statua ut a puck- talentum- exhibitio tellus. Vienna, Va.s’, Cenaculum Roe skated permaneo season pro USHLs’ Indiana Glacies (63 cuspis in 57 games. Marylander) Phil Axtell, iam ingressus suus sophomore season procul Michigan Tech, skated pro Cedar Volatilis. Si hed’ had vicis ut subsisto domi quod skate parumper hometown team in USHL, would Luke Lynes have profugus usque OHLs’ Brampton Batallion?

Etiam Lavatio est in suus infantia ut a hockey lascivio caput, tamen suus factum in a brevis period of vicis es nusquam brevis of ingens. Unus of quantum intriguing repono Ive’ auditus procul area rinks is estas commemoro ut DeMathas’ emergence ut a hockey recruiting vis. Illic es altus schola teams via sursum north, ratio goes, ut hodie volo nusquam efficio per Cervus.

Having a Junior team contendo hic, quod suffulcio hockeys’ imperator profano, est logical evolution nostri venatus ut est velox growing inter D.C.s’ athletic families.

Lux lucis a candela tonight pro welfare quod recuperatio of an senex hockey ludio ludius. Ive’ had quinque dies paro pro meus adventum in estas glacies inter quod obviam a manus manus of contemporary collegiate hockey ludio ludius, ut a beer leaguer cuius’ philologus geminus suum ages. calx est simplex: superstes.

Illic est species professio estas hockey captus locus procul Kettler Caput is week, quod trans Potomac, procul Casa John Glacies Rink in Montgomery Duco, illic est species amateur hockey quoque captus locus, sullied aliquantulus per meus presentia (a blogger geminus aevum of collegians). Is misadventure est unus secui morbid curator (can EGO suspendo procul totus?) quod unus secui volatilis irritum ( operor EGO usus etiam ullus permoveo ut vires elicit ex meus iuvenalis glacies materia aevum- licentio laus?). EGO quoque sententia is vires exsisto fun ut chronicle.

Sulum estas procul virtually sulum rink illic es estas castra pro hockey juvenis. Is week procul Casa John, Lusum International Hockey Academy est regimen Montgomery juvenis per suum puck passus. “40 hora of non- subsisto hockey” pro ages 6-17 est quam castra vendo suus week. castra’ consuasor es comprised of D-II quod D-III flatbellies ex Northeast contraho; Peius’ exsisto rudimentum eduro a mereo duos hora in suum vexillum tonight.

Prodigo suum oriens quod meridianus per ankle- morsus quod plures skating novices, consuasor es understandably astrum pro nonnullus serius glacies vicis adveho vesper. They quoque volo moror in vultus. Ut’ qua EGO adveho in. Capio a Sunday amoveo procul CJ in Zamboni, quod EGO sum empowered per keys ut facility. Weekday vesper illic in estas es pulchellus ultum mortuus per 800:. Animadverto qua is est iens?

Have EGO memoratus commodum of juvenis illa collegians mos have in mihi?

Insquequo is week EGO hadnt’ been in glacies totus estas. Peior, meus off- glacies estas palaestra tellus has convenienter amplus of levo draft Vogels. Ive’ absentis Tkachuk. Permaneo weekend EGO no duos trinus ut gym ut jumpstart meus aerobic qualifications pro tonight. Tamen ut’ amo changing oil in a ‘78 Chrysler TownCountry& parumper crux crucis- terra cruise ut Cali.

In Monday nox noctis, EGO partis Casa Johns’ minature bulla rink per a beer league teammate, qua nos vexo biscuit inter aliquantulus quod got nostrum feet adsuesco assuesco res in skates iterum. Aliquantulus “ ventus” nos erant,mane in, in utvegrandissuperficies.

Ledo gym iterum permaneo nox noctis. Illic’ haud vegrandis victoria in illa bursts of resumo opportunitas strenuus ut havent’ iam producto produxi productum malum. Ive’ quoque conicio down aliquantulus of a nutritional macies is week: haud Dairy Regina, quodsiligoinis tortillas per meus burritos. Permaneo Friday nox noctis EGO exertus Volubilis Silicis Lux lucis per meus domus movie visum. atrox in solum eram magis territo quam ShowtimeUltra. (sub numerus forsitan of nuptialis re- donum, EGO etiam have quinque solum ut datum ut ullus OFB lector)

odds es opprimo, EGO reputo, ut super 20 minutes in tonights’ skate Peius’ exsisto UpTkachuking.

Tamen illic’ haud verto tergum. Im’ somes tonight ut a seminal moment in meus hockey tutela. Is autumn vindico unus illorum scelus, ending- in-zero natalis mihi, a penitus agnosco quadrivium inter sol solis- occasus athletic viability quod sicco- ut- pastus, puteus- preteritus-prime otium negotium ut quiete es queror per tener in rinks. Tonight EGO mos perceptum qua Cogo Vita est slotting mihi in meus amoveo in 2007-’08: frendo in quartus versus per alius grey- saeta-eds vel etiam hopping tabula pro secundus vox lascivio iunctum potency.

Tutaminis Keith Seabrook, drafted per Caps in 2006 (52nd super), has certus utlicentia Denver Pioneers iungo Kelly Kisios’ Calgary Hitmen. obscoena blueliner mos suo Caps’ 2007 primoris rotundus pick Karl Alzner in Calgarys’ defensabiliter somes.

Seabrook, iunior frater of Pullus Blackhawks Brent Seabrook, had universa suus vegetus season pro Denver, ustulo 2 calx praecessi per 11 succurro in 37 venatus pro Denver. Suus’ specto ut is mos stipes magnus minutes pro Hitmen, quod ero duco in laboro significant vicis in vox lascivio.

Quis promptus is odd headline? Wyatt Russell, filius of Kurt “Herb Revolvo inMiracle” Russell quod Aurum Hawn, has trado ludo pro Universitas of Alabama-Huntsvilles’ NCAA Divortium EGO progressio tunc annus.

21-annus- vetus Russell, a goaltender pro Brampton Caput is preteritus season in Ontario Provincial Junior League, mos usus per escendo change tunc annus in altum Meridianus. Dum nusquam mos caput capitisAshley Judd pro contraho hockey celebrity cachet, Kurt & Aurum mos certainly verto nonnullus caput capitis procul UAH venatus.

Astute Caput fans may memor ut Russell eram procul Caps’ developmental castrathree annus abhinc. Cogo Glen Hanlon invited tener netminder ut castra ut a ventus ut suus golfing buddy Kurt Russell ( quod quoniam Caps had tantum three calx prospicio procul vicis, quod necessarius a quartus).

Kudos ut Russell pro jugis suus hockey tutela, quod erudio, procul UAH.

Totus nostrum had eo commitments permaneo Friday quod requiro ferreus fundo of dies’ newspapers. A effingo of Fridays’ Lavatio Vicis, vero, subsisto pro pucksandbooks in suus muneris in Monday, quod Fridays’ lusum section frons ex is infligo him ex suus chair. Take a gander procul hockey diligo dramatically illustrated per Vicis’ emendator pro Corey Masisaks’ fabulous pluma in sublimis civitas of American hockey illa dies:

Ut’ non a pulsus of fabula, ut’ suus vere layout. Refer illic es duos alius repono in C1 ex Vicis in Friday — vos iustus can’t reperio lemma! Pium Kane’s hometown paper, Plaga Novus, can’t compositus this hockey journalism epulum.

Tamen ultra ovis amplitudo quod species of piece, Corey Masisak vindico a grade A overview of the silicis rise of American hockey development hodie. “vulgus contradico” American hockey est enjoying, Masisak wrote. Nos hockey fans in Lavatio lucrum massively ex suus paper quod him in Viscus Draft Friday.  

EGO vere contemno is ut BigMedia takes a magnificabiliter fabula informatio quod dilutes suus fun with needless quod distraho ideology/ amicabiliter commentary. Most nostrum patrocinor lusum subterfugio shortcomings of verus universitas, secundum totus. Jim Caple of ESPNs’ Page 2 hodie took a fun quod fascinating thema — 101 of lusum’ fans must- animadverto lusum events — quod gave is quis EGO dico ESPN treatment: a decens amount of sententia quod eloquentia, nonnullus cleverness, but also that outlets characteristic’ politically rectus/ amicabiliter re-engineering/insufferable, superbus, elitist and condescending lecture-posturing. Quis should have been a prorsus fun quod amplus frivolous, disputatio-provoking estas lego tractus interdum into an unintended parody of MSM pendo . . . ones which are seldom partis per an maximus constituency — its lector/ visum.

Puteus, utique Caple got ex satus porta in OK formo. Suus caput capitis 5 must- animadverto lusum vices est ut insisto:

• Estas Olympics
• Universitas Vas
• Hiberna Olympics
• Universitas Serius
• NCAA Subregional

profiteor haud 5, contraho “Subregional,” EGO have haud informatio quis ut est. Tamen ceteri, puteus, they gero vis of vulgus populus secundum lemma. Vos can have orbis terrarum Vas, ut mihi soccer est chess ludio ludius sicco in gramen quod patrocinor totus quoque saepius per hooligans. (tumultus super 2 hora of scorelessness est understandable, tamen non pro causa Europeans quod Tertius- Universitas do.) EGO eram vere admiratio procul altus ordo pro Hiberna Olympics, seeing ut how little “ varietas” illic est inter suus athletes. Caple snuck unus preteritus suus emendator.

Caple tunc has Vinco in suus caput capitis 10 ( haud. 8, quod est teres); Wimbledons’ (9) ok quoque, adeo ut vestri’ sessio procul Centre Villa quod Caltha Sharapovas’ lascivio. Suus primoris vere magnus erroris est per Michigan-Ohio Civitas, procul haud. 17. Im’ rumex, tamen ut’ American Icon, fere certainly maximus event each annus in Midwest ( ut persolvo BigMedias’ devalue-ing is). A caput capitis 10-er pro certus.   

Hockey planto suus coepi vultus in Caples’ album procul haud. 20: Sto Vas playoffs. OK. Vos quod EGO would have is superus, nimirum, tamen memor, is est idem eadem idem exitus ut fossor NHL, quod suus postseason, in ventus of  televised poker. Quod altus schola cheerleading competitions. (persevero)

In dies statim subsequens 2006 Viscus Draft Caps plerumque meritus eximius altus evaluations pro suum opus in Vancouver. grade range universe ran ex ‘A+’ ut ‘A.’ prosperitas of suum 2007 draft, vero, est inextricably linked ut 2008s’, in lux lucis of George McPhees’ preference ut protraho lectio interdum Friday nox noctis quod Saturday in ventus of acquiring picks for tunc June.

Illic erant compelling causa pro Caps adipiscor additional picks pro 2008 draft. Pro unus, suus’ lux lucis- annus melior in terms of altus-end quality quod overall depth. But just as importantly, there’s a bit of a glut of strong prospects crowding the Caps’ organization these days. Since 2002, the Caps have drafted 12 players in the first round. Twelve. They’ve added eight second-rounders in that time, too. This morning, it’s difficult to point to a single one of these 20 high-enders and pronounce him “bust.”

That’s the good news. But beginning this very weekend Caps’ management has some difficult decisions to make in terms of committing next season to the likes of Jacub Klepis and Tomas Fleischmann. Qualifying offers come due then, and as they impact 2002 picks, it’s that portion of prom when the band strikes up the slow song. To dance or not to dance?

Or you could call it the 5-year itch.  

Some of these high-enders will make the Caps this fall. The rest need a place in the organization to play. (Only a couple, you’d think, could and would be packaged in a trade or two.)

The past couple of years, I’ve thought about how many European prospects the Caps have who’ve yet to make a commitment to playing in North America. (There are some good ones over there, too.) But even that’s changing; early in this offseason the Caps inked Josef Boumedienne and Sami Lepisto.

With training camps in 2005 and 2006 the Caps brought in a conspicuous number of tier II and III free agents to address the organization’s lack of quality depth. But this September, there will be a far more organic quality to the 60 or 70 skaters at Kettler Capitals, the likes of which Caps’ fans have never seen.

We may well see all 20 of those first- and second-rounders from the past five drafts then. We will likely see all of the collegiate free agents the Caps have inked the past couple of springs. We will see some fresh faces from Europe. And most exciting, from my vantage, will be the appearance of late-round draft gems like Andrew Gordon, Travis Morin, Viktor Dovgan, Mathieu Perreault, and Andrew Joudrey, all of whom possess viable pro hockey aspirations.

A preview of this our-guys-on-the-ice aura arrives in two weeks’ time at Kettler, with the Caps’ July Rookie Development Camp. Fans understandably are preoccupied with the end-game results from early October through April, but the foundation for a durable rebuild requires reliably successful drafting and development. The drafting work appears to be working well; the development aspect is more in question, as the Caps, beginning this fall, need to see some Hershey Bears graduate and make a positive impact on the parent roster — guys like Dave Steckel, Mike Green, Klepis and or Flash.

The Caps left Columbus with more high-value assets — three from the first two rounds. One, though (Alzner), may step into the big league soon, and another (Ted Ruth) can be stashed on a university campus, if need be, for four years. It was a savvy and sage handling of his organization’s development blueprint by George McPhee.   

In the middle of this past hockey season consensus was that the 2007 NHL Entry Draft would offer up another strong showing by American prospects — seven or eight of them were likely to be tabbed in the first round. This would follow by a year an Entry Draft in which fully 10 Americans went in round one. These kind of tallies are bettered only by the Canadians.

As we near the 11th hour of the Columbus draft that forecast is being widely revised . . . upward. TSN’s superb draft primer forecasts 10 Yanks as first-rounders; The Hockey News’ Hot 100 list, a ranking compendium comprising the blended prognostications of 10 NHL scouts, also has 10 Americans going in round one. There are a litany of highly thoughtful and well-respected reader-generated draft forecasts to be found at Hockeysfuture this week, and again Americans litter those lists.

No two Americans have ever gone 1-2 in round one. It almost happened last year. It well could tomorrow night in Columbus.

If 10 Americans again have their names called on Versus tomorrow night the implications are beyond clear: in consecutive years the broad pipeline of American development — from the USNTDP to U.S. college hockey to the USHL to American high school hockey — will have claimed fully one-third of the NHL draft’s first round. And by the way, one of the Americans likely to go in round one tomorrow night is a Californian.

As player development goes, this is called trending upward.

But what might perhaps be even more impressive than the sheer tally of American talent is its breadth across positions. Looking over the haul of first-round U.S. talent in recent drafts, and with an eye toward this year’s, one notices sleek snipers (Kane, Kessel, Oshie), bruising blueliners (the Johnsons, Joe Finley, Nick Petrecki, Colby Cohen), power forwards aplenty (Okposo, Bobby Ryan, Skille, van Riemsdyk, Pacioretty), and especially an abundance of two-way rearguards.

Interestingly, if there’s one area of positional weakness relative to the Canadians and Europeans in recent drafts for the Americans, it’s an area of previous strength: in goal. Since Rick DiPietro went first overall in 2000, we really haven’t seen USAHockey or anyone else produce high-end talent between the American pipes. That 2000 draft is the more intriguing in light of the modest American skating talent that followed DiPietro in the first round: Ron Hainsey, Brooks Orpik, David Hale, and Jeff Taffe.

This decade, it seems, the U.S. feasts in first-round skating talent and famines in net, and vice versa.

While the best is yet to come for U.S. national teams in international competition because of this embarassment of young talent riches, over at the World Championships this spring it was abundantly evident to us that the new generation of warp-speed, wicked skill set is already primed to make an impact. That U.S. squad coached by Mike Sullivan was one overtime, struck goalpost away from taking down gold-medal finalist Finland. And it was a conspicuously young squad.

Her WRC colleagues last evening were startled by the segment, occurring as it did in late May, with the Redskins mere weeks away from the start of training camp, but OFB Queen of Local Sports Media Lindsay Czarniak remained undaunted and committed to her puck calling, devoting 56 minutes of last evening’s 60-minute 5:00 WRC newscast to a profile of local college hockey player James “Bubba” Sixsmith. (OK, the segment wasn’t quite that long, but it seemed so to our puck-starved eyes and ears in Washington this spring.) We’d embed the segment for you if we could. But check out the WRC video link.

Sixsmith, a native of Alexandria, Va., recently graduated from Holy Cross College and captained the hockey team there the past two seasons. He was also a Hobey Baker finalist this past season.

Dave Fay may not be the only local hockey beat reporter fated for Hall of Fame enshrinement as a hockey media standout.

And Nate Ewell, you’re not allowed to play.

The whole Frozen Four weekend was one of surprises. North Dakota’s Ryan Duncan took home the Hobey Baker on Friday.

Let’s dispense with the obvious from the outset: Olie Kolzig enjoyed his first shutout since the winter of 2004 with all four members of OFB monitoring the feat from press row. Should the organization, in 2007-08, respond by setting aside four leather recliners for us up there? Seems mildly excessive.

I really enjoy being around members of the Caps’ organization on a day when an exciting prospect has been inked. And last night there was no denying the Caps’ enthusiasm about Andrew Gordon joining the organization. Nate Ewell made a point of coming over to us during the first intermission and letting us know the organization’s expectations of him: of all the signings this spring, he told us, Gordon is the guy with a real chance to make a difference at the NHL level.

Before the game I had a chance to stop George McPhee for a brief chat about the signing. He told me that in the short term, Gordon, now sidelined with a sprained ankle, will remain on campus, but that he will eventually make his way to Hershey, and should the Bears make another lengthy postseason run, Gordon would likely compete for playoff playing time. I’m aware of the general patience the Caps have in developing their draft picks, and so I wondered if the organization would have been all that bothered had Gordon opted to remain at St. Cloud for his senior year. The Caps, McPhee made clear to me, wanted him playing pro right now.

He will start next season in Hershey, the GM told me, but — and this I found startling — he doesn’t necessarily expect Gordon to remain there all year.

“We think there’s a real chance that he can help us out here next season,” McPhee said.

Next season isn’t about more shuffling of youth in and out of the lineup, like piecing together and pulling apart a puzzle; it’s about making a big move up in the East’s standings, so it’s clear the Caps believe they have something special in Gordon, and that his development timeline should be briefer than normal. No slouch of a seventh round pick, this one.

We kept an eye on the game 7 proceedings between Acadie Bathurst and PEI, and we passed along updates to Caps’ communications guys. PEI is an hour ahead of us in the Maritimes, and so as we settled into our seats early last night we learned that Mathieu Perreault had already potted a goal and an assist midway through the second period. Bathurst prevailed 4-3 on the road in what must have been an OT thriller. Perreault finished the series with five goals and three assists. Next up for the Titan is Cape Breton in round 2.

I really enjoy chatting with the out-of-town reporters between periods, and last night I was surprised by the size of the Florida press contingent in attendance. There was a Palm Beach Post scribe, a Miami Herald fella, and one or two others from sunshine state dailies. All this southern media interest in a Tuesday night, playing-out-the-string Southeast showdown? Then I realized: the Florida Marlins were in D.C. opening their baseball season, and a bunch of these guys were pressed into double coverage duty.

Anyway, I wanted to pick their brains about the full-season impact of the Roberto Luongo deal, as it’s increasingly acquiring the rotting aroma of worst-trade-in-NHL-history status. You recall the particulars of that one. The classic butterfly French Canadian uber talent, still south of reaching his prime splendor, with likely at least 10 game-changing seasons still ahead of him, dealt by Mike Keenan just days before last June’s Entry Draft, for like three bloggers to be named later.

I began my inquiry by noting that the Panthers were an above-.500 hockey club (in the NHL’s quirky three-column standings), and I wondered where these writers thought the club would be had it held on to Luongo. For a more dramatic cup-a-joe Wednesday morning file I wanted all of them to shout in unison “20 . . . maybe 25 games over .500, and Cup contenders.”

But their answers surprised me. For starters, while none of them waxed euphoric over Alex Auld, the Cats’ blueline has improved dramatically this season. A healthy chunk of that is attributable to Jay Boumeester’s no. 1 guy blossoming, but all their press guys agreed that both Ruslan Salei and Bryan Allen had played important and durable roles all season long. Last night was the 80th game of the season for both of them. They also pointed out the adverse impact of Joe Nieuwendyk’s injuries. I appreciated their nuance, and I didn’t dispute them, but I raised the analogy of Patty Roy being thrown out of Montreal in his prime, and they all nodded. Then the Miami Herald guy told me, “The deal cost Keenan his job, no doubt.”

Today’s St. Cloud Times reports that yesterday the Caps inked forward prospect Andrew Gordon of the WCHA’s St. Cloud State Huskies to a three-year deal. The account is one hockey fans would do well to peruse, as it’s distinctive in empahsizing Gordon’s intense struggle to choose between starting his pro career and leaving an ascendent program and teammates he cherished:

“As recent as Friday, Gordon was convinced he wasn’t going to change history. Early last week, after conversations with Steve Richmond, the Capitals’ director of player personnel, Gordon thought he was staying.

“He asked me straight-up ‘Do you want to leave?’” said Gordon, then only a couple of days removed from a 4-1 loss to Maine in SCSU’s first NCAA Tournament bid in four years.

“I said I was comfortable staying here. I love the school and being with the guys. It would be good for my development to play more than 20 minutes a night and be on the power play. Their offer wasn’t near what we thought it would have to be, so I thought that was it.”

“Late last week, however, Gordon got a call from George McPhee, the Caps’ vice president and general manager. Their conversation lasted nearly an hour.

“It meant a lot to hear right from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, where they see me in their plans,” Gordon said.

Gordon was selected by the Caps in the seventh round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He leaves St. Cloud as just the 9th player in school history to amass 100 points, which he accomplished in just three seasons, and he was named First Team All WCHA this season.

[The following continues a conversation with NHL Scout started Thursday, March 29, 2007]

In Part II of my dialogue with NHLScout, I examine the contemporary American hockey development landscape, particularly with respect to college hockey, as this is his primary scouting territory. I sought to get a portrait of the college game’s increasing infusion of talent from very non-traditional outposts, like California and the lower Midwest. I also wanted his thoughts on Ann Arbor’s USNDTP, now in its 10th year of existence.

pucksandbooks: What is the “offseason” like for you? Late spring or summer, what are your principal tasks for your NHL club?

NHLScout: The “offseason” really depends on where you are. The draft is in late June, and every team has meetings in early June. Come summer, there are tournaments in different parts of the world — Europe, Boston, Michigan, different areas of Canada. It just depends on your role on your team, and where the good players are. If you are a trusted, veteran scout, and a top kid is playing in the Slovakian tournament in July, you’re on that plane. For the most part, summer is pretty low key. From Mid-May (or so) to late August (or so) you have meetings, the draft, and maybe two or three tournaments. A lot of guys will work hockey schools to bring in some extra cash.

pucksandbooks: The 10th birthday of the United States National Development Team Program (USNDTP) is occasioning its share of overview from the American hockey journalism community. What is your sense of where it is today?

NHLScout: I think the successes of the U.S. Development Program are clear — top draft picks, numerous college players. On the one hand, it’s too bad that leagues such as the Minnesota High School league or the New England Prep Schools are losing their top players. On the other, the U.S. is finally producing elite level players such as Jack Johnson, Eric Johnson, Phil Kessell, etc. on a consistent basis thanks to better coaching, better preparation, and better competition. It’s helped the college game by giving them more ready-made prospects. And it’s given players such as those previously mentioned the chance to play against good competition.

Is it a perfect system? No. Is it worthwhile, and better than not having the team? Definitely.

pucksandbooks: I’m a strong believer that scholarships in college hockey ought to be given to as many American hockey players as possible. There are far more Americans there today than there were 15 or 20 years ago. Looking ahead, will the college game, do you think, be able to maintain its basically North American identity, or will more international players comprise those rosters much as they have in recent years with Canadian Juniors (which is capped, of course)? Or, is it simply too difficult in terms of resources for college coaching staffs to scout European players?

NHLScout: I have no real preference where college hockey gives the scholarships. To me, I want the best players in college hockey. I would hope that U.S. youth hockey will continue producing enough top players that the majority of the players will be American, just as Canadian Junior Hockey should remain predominantly Canadian. However, if it means raising the quality of play, I will happily embrace Europeans and Canadians in the college game. In fact, with pro teams now strip-mining the college game (thanks to a CBA change, college players now cost less to sign, so teams are taking more and more players who are not quite ready because there’s less cash at risk), college hockey is going to need to find new sources of talent to even maintain the current level of play.

pucksandbooks: InsideCollegeHockey.com earlier this year published what I thought was an under- appreciated report titled “States of the Game,” about where college hockey players come from, by state and province. The thing that stood out to me was California’s emergence. More than 30 Californians were on D-I college rosters this season. What the heck is going on out there, and with places like Texas and Missouri, too?

NHLScout: What’s going on in the warm weather states is very simple — NHL expansion worked. In 1991, the San Jose Sharks arrived in California, expanding the NHL’s presence beyond LA. It’s now 16 years later. Those college kids from California were roughly 3-5 when the NHL got there. Now they’re hockey players. That’s not an accident.

Others will look at the Gretzky trade — 1988, hockey hits the big time in LA. That was 19 years ago. Guess how old these college kids are? 1992, Tampa Bay. 1993, Florida, Anaheim, Dallas. The kids who picked up hockey because they were finally being exposed to it are just now hitting the age where they are hitting the national scene.

California, Texas, and Florida are widely considered (among) the best states for athletes in football and baseball. To make my math easy, let’s say that in 1993 there were 5 million 5-year-old boys in those three states. 2.5 million played football, 2.5 played baseball. Now, let’s say 500,000 of those kids picked up hockey. All of a sudden, you’re talking about some of the best young athletes in America lacing up the skates instead of playing other sports. An extra half million athletes for leagues to pick through to find talent. While the vast majority of those athletes will fail (as is the case with all athletes), the USHL, NAHL, New England Prep Schools, NCAA, and, eventually, the NHL now have a deeper talent pool to utilize.

I forget where I heard this, but I’m sure one of your readers can find it: look back at the recent U.S. Bantam/Midget National Champions. I’m fairly certain many of them have been from California. The number of rinks in these states has exploded, meaning that ice time becomes cheaper and parents don’t have to drive three hours to get their kids on the ice. The kids who used to be centerfielders are now centres, and that’s vitally important for the future of the NHL. While intelligent people can disagree on the merits of expansion and how it immediately affected the NHL talent pool, we’re just now beginning to reap the benefits of exposing young athletes to the game.

pucksandbooks: My last question for you: who will get — and who should get — the Hobey Baker this year?

NHLScout: If I had a vote for the Hobey Baker, I would vote for David Brown from Notre Dame. Frankly, no player had a better season than Brown. He was the most outstanding player in college hockey. The other nominees all had great seasons — Bagnall was an amazing defenseman, Curry carried BU at times, Hensick and Duncan are two of the best offensive threats in college hockey, etc. — but I have questions about the merits of all of them.

For example, Brown had better numbers than Curry, and on a worse team. Duncan plays on a line with Oshie and Toews, making him the third best player on his own line. Hensick, like Curry, is surrounded by an impressive supporting cast. Frankly, for their talent level, ND was barely a Top 25 team. It was only because of coaching and David Brown that they were ranked #1. That said, I expect Hensick and Brown to split the Midwest/Western vote and Curry to carry the entire East Coast, so he’ll bring it home. For me, it would have gone (1) Brown, (2) Hensick, (3) Curry, (4) Bagnall, (5) Duncan.

By the way, I’ve had a couple of days to check out your site, and count me as a future regular reader. You guys have done a terrific job.

I’d like to first thank you for this opportunity, and the readers of this blog for their support of the greatest sport in the world. And if you see a scout at a game, buy him a coffee. He works his ass off to put the product you see out there on the ice, and he’ll appreciate it.

pucksandbooks: The Frozen Four is coming to Washington in 2009, and I expect to see you there. You won’t be paying for your coffee or your beer that week. Thanks for giving my readers and me so much of your time and such thought-provoking insight.

Notre Dame’s David Brown, Air Force’s Eric Ehn, and North Dakota’s Ryan Duncan today were announced as finalists for this year’s Hobey Baker award. The award will be made next Friday in St. Louis at the Frozen Four.

If you were to compile a list of the most intriguing and alluring professions (outside of being a highly paid pro athlete), what might be called “dream jobs,” you might include a ski instructor at Vail, a photographer for Hugh Heffner, perhaps a road test driver for Porsche. My list would include being paid to travel around the world to watch hockey, with rinks as my office, as a scout. On conference calls I’d be asked to discuss slick-skating Slovaks and mischief-makers from Moose Jaw.

In this role I could envision myself shamelessly dropping the names of athletes and locales, annoying my fellow air travelers in their comparatively mundane business comings and goings with “Once I land in Stockholm I’ll race over to national team headquarters to obtain a progress report on Jergen . . . for I understand he’s tearing up the Elite League.” This likely explains why I am not a hockey scout; at times I lack subtlety.

Of course, our perceptions of these professions are premised on myth and an outsider’s necessarily flawed vantage. When you actually get a chance to talk to someone in them, markedly different realities are detailed for you. This was my experience recently in an entirely unplanned and altogether fortuitous exchange I had with a full-time NHL scout. From the moment I confirmed his identity I knew I wanted to pick his hockey head clean of its “a season in the life of” experiences and analyses, for his is a line of work long shrouded behind the scenes, in mystery even, by design.

In this scout I had not only a fertile and fruitful information source but an emblem of hockey’s most impassioned: you don’t go into hockey scouting because the loading gig at Home Depot didn’t come through, you scout — necessarily making unfathomable sacrifices on your personal life — because you possess in inexhaustable fire for life on ice, he told me. He didn’t merely answer my questions in rich detail but created compositions with my readers’ perceived curiosity foremost in mind. He asked of me only that I preserve his anonymity and that of his NHL employer. I happily obliged.

He is based in the U.S. He covers a major region of the country — its colleges and prominent high school programs. He is responsible for all of the teams and players in one of college hockey’s power conferences. And at times he is also tasked with scouting junior hockey and the occasional professional game.

pucksandbooks: Most hockey fans have an impression that the life of an NHL scout has to be pretty much the closest thing to Heaven on Earth as far as careers go. I mean, what could be better than getting paid to watch terrific hockey! Jet planes, morning skates, and hotels with embroidered bathrobes. Firstly, how accurate are our general impressions of this career, and would you identify for OFB readers both your favorite and least favorite aspects of it?

NHLScout: I love when people talk about the glamour of this job. Let me make it clear from the start that I love my job. There is literally nothing I would rather be doing in the world. As you said, I get paid to watch hockey — what could be better? I’m sure people will skip this disclaimer and read what follows as me complaining, but that’s not my intention. I just want to strip the “glamour” idea from the job. Scouting is a grind. The glamour is for athletes, GMs, and some coaches. The scouts are the faceless drones who do the grunt work without the public recognition.

I’m one of the younger scouts, and single. On a “home” week for me, I’ll spend Tuesday through Sunday driving to games, watching games, and sitting at home filing game reports. I frequently drive 5 hours to see a game, then drive 5 back (through snow, rain, ice, whatever else) when the game ends. That means I’ll leave my house around noon on Friday, and get home around 3 a.m. Saturday. I haven’t had a Friday or Saturday night off since the last weekend in August. When I’m on the road, it’s long drives, small towns, and hotel rooms. Ever been to Medicine Hat, Alberta? Or Sioux City, Iowa? Or some random town I can’t spell in Latvia? NHL scouts have.

And this isn’t NHL hockey we get to watch every night. I’ve seen high school games where one player is a borderline 7th round pick, and the rest of the kids can’t even skate. It’s painful to watch and hard to focus — you end up trying to find attractive women in the crowd, or staring at the clock as the minutes count down. Scouting is a time consuming, exhausting job, especially for wives and children. I’m incredibly lucky to not be married at this point — I don’t know how the wives are able to do it. Their husbands are gone for weeks at a time, work strange hours, and have very little time off. Honestly, the toughest people in hockey are the wives and children. It’s amazing what they have to deal with.

My favorite part of the job is hard to choose. I love the community. Scouts are a tight-knit group of men who do their best to look out for each other. Older scouts helping rookies with things like hotels, directions, back doors to rinks, etc. Rookies driving the older guys while they catch up on some rest. Going and talking to the athletes and coaches and finding out information. Hearing the stories of guys who have scouted for 50 years (”I remember seeing Bobby Orr back in juniors. One game . . . “) never ceases to entertain me. I love the first moment of every day when I walk into a rink, and feel the cold, and smell the sweat, and just feel at home. I love those infrequent games where you see something special — a player you just know will be a star, or a goal you’ve never seen before, or a great fight. I love that my job changes every day.

My least favorite part of the job is just the travel and lack of free time, which gets old pretty fast. For every trip to a great city like New York or Boston or Madison, Wis., there’s the trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, or some small town in Western Canada, or a place in Russia where no one else speaks English. I don’t really have time for a social life because I’m working every night. I also wouldn’t mind if women were more impressed by the job title. When I get a rare night off and go out to a bar, I usually end up surrounded by male hockey fans who are asking me questions, while the girls of the group walk off to find a doctor or a cop. (Continued)

If like us you greatly appreciated MASN’s stellar coverage of the NCAA puck postseason this past weekend — the outlet ended up televising fully five games in their entirety Friday through Sunday — drop management there a kind word of appreciation, and urge them to make the tourney a staple of their broadcast future.

Ours was a Billy Packer-less weekend, and we loved every hour of it.

As best as I can tell, English has no word for the ubiquitous wish hockey fans harbor for prolonged and momentum-shifting sudden death overtime drama, be it contested in the NCAA or NHL postseasons. As we settle in for this gunslinger’s showdown that in drama has no rival anywhere in sports, and assuming we have no dog in the fight, it seems to me the last thing we expect and long for is a swift resolution, while the ice sheet is still shimmering. We want, perhaps, at least a half-period’s worth of white-knuckled back and forth, with goalposts clanked and odd-man rushes raising us out of our seats. Ideally, we’d be treated to two or three extra 20-minute sessions that obliterate the rest of the day or evening’s plans and empty our fridges. It’s when hockey fans become drama junkies.

The NCAA’s marquee postseason weekend kicked off last Friday afternoon with successive sudden death sessions, and so it was fitting that its final game last night so ended, and the moreso with it being contested in one of college hockey’s fiercest rivalries, Minnesota and North Dakota.

I watched it and luxuriated in a splendid spring Sunday afternoon turn first into early evening and then deep darkness with the game’s outcome still undecided. Every North American with a single thought about the sport of hockey has a prescription to improve its overall appeal, but here, in this extra session exhilaration, hockey has it perfect. Extra innings in the World Series are superb, but even they’ve got nothing on hockey’s sudden death.

While we’d like the game’s referees to slide back a bit from their whistle-happy whims and allow rugged heroism to determine sudden death’s outcome, we also savor I think the high alerts from manpower advantages, monitoring every power play pass and head-first dive to clear the zone with a laser focus and relish we don’t during the regular season. Whether we’re in the stands or seated before a TV screen, our sensory scope is at its widest during this action. We are attuned even to the footwork of the puck-carrying, backpedaling blueliner, knowing any error in agility could end his team’s season. I call this the Lesson of Gonchar.

It seems to me that most often a hockey team’s true character is revealed in these showdown sessions, and that most often the deserving team prevails. As the college hockey regular season concluded more and more observers pointed out Minnesota’s seeming lack of cohesion and chemistry — a trait that is becoming a bit of a staple in that superstar-laden program. And sure enough, last night it was North Dakota that carried the play in OT. And whereas the Gophers are perhaps a program increasingly of one- and two-year high profile pitstops en route to the pros, note that Sioux senior Chris Porter won UND’s entry to the Frozen Four last night.

I think if I were building a hockey team designed to prosper in sudden death, I’d seek leadership and experience. Is it any wonder that at the NHL’s trade deadline every year we see GMs across the league pony up high value assets for grizzled greybeards?

Special hockey teams seem to rise to the remarkable challenge of sudden death. The 1998 Capitals went 5-1 in overtime in the East’s playoffs en route to their only appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Last season’s Hurricanes went 4-1 in extra time in their postseason run. We may never again see the likes of the 1993 Montreal Canadians, who won ten straight postseason overtime games. Doubtless there are dozens more testionials to champion fortitude forged in this frenzy, and it seems doubtful that a team involved in at least a handful of OT games has won a Cup while amassing a losing record in them.

Let’s invent a word for our yearning for this marvelous mayhem.