In other news....

The Colorado Eagles bid to repeat as President’s Cup Champions fells short as they were defeated in 4 games by the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in the Northern Conference Finals of the Central Hockey League.

In other CHL news, Colorado will be getting a new CHL team for the 2006-2007 season. They will be the called the Rocky Mountain Rage. For those of you who don’t know much about Colorado, Broomfield is roughly 30 minutes north of Denver. I had no idea that they were that interested in hockey up there in, as my grandparents fondly call the area, the boonies….I’m not sure if Colorado will continue to have the Eagles but it appears that we will. These teams will be roughly 45 minutes apart from each other so that should make for some interesting hockey.

University of Denver Assistant Coach Seth Appert has accepted the Head Coaching job at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Located in Troy, New York, RPI has an enrollment of 4,500 and it academically very similar to the University of Denver. It is a member of the ECAC so DU won’t get to see the Engineers very often. RPI has won two national championships, one in 1954 and the other in 1985. I wish all the best the Coach Appert. He did an amazing job of cultivating the goaltenders of DU during his tenure and I hope he can continue his coaching success at RPI.

This is the time of year when many bright shining stars of College Hockey decide to make the big leap to the NHL (or AHL). Thus far 14 college stars have signed with NHL teams. Some have reported straight to their NHL teams while others have been assigned to their teams’ AHL affiliates. Some of the major losses thus far are as follows (in order of most recent, not most important):
-Kris Chucko (Minnesota) signed with the Calgary Flames and will try out for their big club this summer. Personally I don’t think he is ready but he really only went for the money. Good luck!
-Robbie Earl (Wisconsin) signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was sent straight to their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies. He played in 3 games with no assists, goals; well basically he didn’t do anything. Now the Marlies season is over. This one was kind of funny because about a week before, he promised 3,000 screaming Badger fans that he would not be signing with Toronto…
-Travis Zajac (North Dakota) signed with the New Jersey Devils and reported straight to their AHL affiliate the Albany River Rats. He played in 2 games, had 1 assist, was a minus-3, and had 2 penalty minutes. I think he could be ready for big show, but he definitely could have used some more time at UND.
-Matt Smaby (North Dakota) signed with the Tampa Bay Lightening and will join the team this summer for their training camp. I think he will spend the next year with Tampa Bay’s affiliate.
-Danny Irmen (Minnesota) signed with the Minnesota Wild. First of all, how funny is it that a kid from North Dakota has played most of his hockey career in Minnesota? Maybe the irony is lost to you but my friends from North Dakota assure me it’s pretty funny! Anyway, I think Danny left because his good buddy Ryan Potulny left. But I think Danny will spend the next year with the Houston Aeros, the Wild’s AHL affiliate.
-Matt Stefanishion (Ferris State) signed with the Washington Capitals. I think he has a pretty good chance of breaking into the line-up next year considering Washington is such a young team as it is.
-Jamie Hunt (Mercyhurst) signed with the Washington Capitals. If the Caps wanted this kid that bad, I’m pretty sure he will break into the line-up next year.
-David McKee (Cornell) signed with Anaheim. Well, Anaheim is having some major problems with goaltending recently, and I think this Hobey Baker Finalist will be just what the doctor ordered in a few years time after he has had time to elevate his game. If only Giguere could hold on for that long…
-Daniel Winnik (New Hampshire) signed with Phoenix. This is a team badly in need of some talent, and though I have never seen Winnik play, if the Great One wants to sign him, he must be worth something…
-Ryan Potulny (Minnesota) signed with Philadelphia. Bandwagon much? He just wanted to be cool like Matt Carle and leave early. Everything that Matt Carle did, Ryan Potulny wanted to do to only he couldn’t quite cut it. Since signing on April 7, he has played 2 games and had 1 assist. He has been a healthy scratch ever since.
-Bill Thomas (Nebraska-Omaha) signed with Phoenix. Ditto what was said for Winnik.
-Matt Carle (Denver) signed with San Jose. I know I have extolled on the greatness of the greatest Denver Defensemen in a long while, but here I go again. In Carle’s 17 games with Sharks, he has 3 goals, 6 assists, is a minus-1 and has 14 penalty minutes. Not to shabby….
-David Backes (Minnesota State Mankato) signed with St. Louis. He will report to the team in the summer. St. Louis definitely needs this guy. He will be great asset to the team that finished last in the NHL. Good Luck!
-Alex Foster (Bowling Green) signed with Toronto and was assigned to their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies. In 8 games with the Marlies he had 1 goal, was a minus-2 and had 6 penalty minutes.

Good Luck to all these fine young men. And with any luck we won’t loose too many more!