Hunter Miska, Neal Pionk Leave UMD Early

Disappointing, exciting, but not terribly surprised.

I think those terms all apply in their own way, amid news in the last 48 hours that two cornerstone players for UMD are leaving the program early for pro hockey.

It's disappointing in a sense when players leave early, from multiple selfish standpoints. Obviously, it stands to hurt the team going forward, and frankly I'm going to miss being around all the players who depart the program.

Of course, it's also exciting. These guys have a chance to make it in the pros, and that's always fun to see happen. 

And in the case of freshman goalie Hunter Miska and sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk, both of whom have announced their intention to turn pro, it isn't surprising UMD lost both. I wrote about it last week, strongly intimating they might go.

Miska signed Saturday with the Arizona Coyotes, where he joins an organization struggling in terms of goalies at all levels. With just four under contract beyond this season, Miska (he turns 22 in July) will have a chance to make an immediate impact.

An older freshman when he arrived, I was never convinced he'd be a four-year guy. But as the season wore on, and Miska practically carried this team at times, it was clear he had a chance to go pro. When Michigan Tech freshman goalie Angus Redmond signed with the Anaheim Ducks last month, it only increased my fears Miska would be the program's first one-and-done player since Justin Faulk in 2010-11.

(Keep in mind, older freshmen especially are risking a lot by staying in school when there are viable offers to go pro. Their window to make it in the pros is much shorter than younger guys in the same situation.)

Sophomores Nick Deery and Hunter Shepard combined to play five games in 2016-17, with Deery starting twice and Shepard once. Their numbers were pretty solid (Deery was  .934 and Shepard a .922), and head coach Scott Sandelin -- who was clearly prepared for these players to leave -- spoke last week about his confidence in both. UMD will bring in another goalie to compete for a job. There are some accomplished junior goalies who are uncommitted, so I'm interested to see who they're able to get. Even on short notice, the Bulldogs have a chance to add a pretty solid goalie for the 2017-18 season and hopefully beyond.

With three freshmen goalies on the roster, UMD had none committed for future years. While it might look like a scramble drill at this point, they know where to look and it shouldn't be a drawn-out process.

******

Pionk, meanwhile, confirmed Monday his decision to leave UMD and head to pro hockey. A free agent, Pionk's destination isn't yet known, but making his decision now opens the door for him to visit NHL franchises on their dime, instead of having to pay his own way for such trips if he didn't make the decision beforehand.

(It's a path J.T. Brown followed when he left after the 2011-12 season and eventually signed with Tampa Bay.)

The Hermantown native is a good-skating, right-shot defenseman with tremendous poise and the ability to take over games. He should attract plenty of interest from NHL teams. Money-wise, there won't be a lot of difference in the offers he gets (there are maximums on these deals and bonuses), so Pionk will be allowed to make a decision based on the fit, system, and perhaps most importantly, his path to the NHL.

Matt Wellens indicated the possibility that defenseman commits Dylan Samberg or Hunter Lellig could come in early. Both are draft eligible this summer for the first time. If the UMD coaches don't want to bring one of them in a year earlier than planned, look for them to recruit a player to fill Pionk's spot on the roster. But with him gone, Nick Wolff (37 games, 2-10-12) and Jarod Hilderman (11 games, 0-1-1) are the only players back with any real notable experience from the 2016-17 season. Nick McCormack only played four games, has 24 games played in three years, and has yet to show he's a viable option for significant minutes. Will Campion got in just one game, and it was in October.

Who's coming in? Two Andersons -- Mikey and Matt -- and a Perunovich (Scott). Mikey Anderson is Joey's brother, while Matt is not related. Expect both Andersons to eat a lot of the missing minutes. Perunovich might be a bit more of a developmental prospect early, but once he settles in, his vision and puck-moving ability will be highly-valued, especially on the power play.

With Pionk's departure, UMD is probably short at least one player. Would assume they want eight defensemen to start the season. If Samberg or Lellig don't come in early, I would expect UMD to recruit another player to fill the void. Time will tell what direction UMD decides to go.

******

Will there be other departures? It doesn't appear so. Joey Anderson, Adam Johnson, and Riley Tufte, likely the biggest "flight risks" among the remaining returnees, have all confirmed their intention to return to school.

It leaves UMD with what appears to be a formidable offensive group that might be a bit leaky in the back end while the young guys get acclimated. It also prioritizes the already-important work that these players do on their own over the summer. Everyone will need to report in great shape and prepared to learn the Bulldog way when the leaves (which will come in soon, I promise) start to change colors.

Check out @BruceCiskie on Twitter for more discussion. Enjoy the NHL playoffs.

Why the NBA is Still Killing the NHL

Let there be no doubt: The NHL is growing.

Boosted significantly by local Chicago numbers, the Stanley Cup Final did very well, relatively speaking. The numbers, including eight million-plus viewers for the clinching game on Monday, are even better when you consider the NHL has never done wonderfully in the ratings when "non-traditional" markets are involved. When it's an Original Six or a blue-blood (i.e. Pittsburgh), the league can pull some good numbers. But when Tampa Bay, San Jose, or that ilk play, the numbers tend to go down.

(Tampa pulled some really good local ratings this time around, which has to make the league happy. The buzz there was palpable, especially compared to past championship series involving teams like Los Angeles or Carolina.)

However, the NBA Finals -- featuring mid-size market teams with big-market superstars -- more than doubled the NHL's strong -- by its standards -- numbers. Game 6 Tuesday pulled over 23 million viewers, and Game 5 Sunday topped 20 million, too. Imagine if you replaced "Golden State vs Cleveland" with "L.A. Lakers vs Anyone."

So the NHL is growing. Any hockey fan will tell you they prefer many things about hockey to basketball, and even casual hockey fans will agree that the Stanley Cup Final is riveting television. The secondary ticket market was abuzz, and fans who attend are ridiculously into the games.

Why doesn't it translate to TV numbers that at least draw the gap closer?

(Keep in mind, too, that this is not a head-to-head comparison. The NHL and NBA do not contest their championship series games on the same night and haven't since 2009, when it happened once.)

Greg Wyshynski chimed in with an excellent piece on this before the Final started. It largely cites the lack of true superstars in the NHL, the guys fans care about no matter what team they're on. Yeah, there's Sidney Crosby, the most polarizing player in the game (think the John Cena of the NHL, or the LeBron of the NHL, because anyone who says they like hockey has an opinion on Crosby, good or bad). But no one else really moves the needle that way, no matter how hard we might try.

Greg also notes that the thought of watching hockey on a beautiful evening in June probably isn't something fans are big on unless they have a compelling reason to (or if they have a dog in the proverbial fight).

And he's right.

But the star power issue is worth revisiting, because I think I have an answer.

Turn on an NBA game, and the biggest names in the game are always accounted for. LeBron is always doing something, as are guys like Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, Kobe Bryant, Blake Griffin, and so many others. Rare is the night where a big NBA name is rendered invisible by the opponent, or by their own ineffectiveness. Even when they're off, you know where they are.

In the NHL, star players are constantly checked tightly and largely rendered invisible in the playoffs. Jonathan Toews is a factor all the time, even when he isn't scoring. But the stories of the Cup Final were Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos because of what they weren't doing. There were long stretches of games where you would have struggled to find either of them with a searchlight.

It seems petty, because many of us who watch hockey do it because it's such a great team game. But we're not talking about hardcore fans. We're talking about those who only check in late in the playoffs, or only care about star power.

It's not that Chicago and Tampa don't have star players. And it's not even that the NHL does a poor job marketing individual stars, though it could be better in this area. So what's the problem? Guessing, but perhaps these casual fans turn on a game, hear about Antoine Vermette and Jason Garrison, then decide they don't know who those guys are and watch "Flip or Flop" instead.

And even if I'm right on this, I don't have the solution. I'd complain about all the obstruction and stick infractions that happen during playoff games, but it's clear by now the league (or the players, or a combination of the two) wants games called this way. Light on penalty stoppages and heavy on "turning the other cheek." Like it or not, and I don't, but the ship has sailed. The idea that star players should have to fight through this garbage is archaic. Things are happening that are against the rules. Call some damn penalties.

With that, we might have stumbled on something. Rarely do NBA officials hesitate to call fouls. Sometimes -- see "Shaq, Hack A" -- this leads to games dragging on and on. OK, not sometimes. Often.

Yet it doesn't drain the ratings. Why? Maybe fans like the idea that the rules are being enforced, even when the stakes get high.

So maybe that ship hasn't sailed, NHL. Your commissioner used to work for the NBA. He has to have a few connections still, right?

About the Wild and Baby Steps

So the Wild lost in four straight to Chicago and are done. It's probably my fault, since I had them winning it all.

(I was most pleased about my "Wild in six" prediction in the first round, because I know a lot of really smart people who didn't agree. But alas, I blew it big-time when I misunderestimated Chicago.)

Anyway, the Wild lost in six to the Blackhawks last year. Four this year. So it's a step backward, right?

Well, it isn't that simple.

The team's step backward actually took place from Nov. 4 through Jan. 13, a stretch where the Wild went 11-16-5 and blew some great opportunities to make headway in the Western Conference.

See, it was that stretch of average/really bad hockey that led the Wild to trade for Devan Dubnyk on Jan. 14 and start its season-ending tear the next night in Buffalo.

For nearly three months straight, the Wild battled night in and night out to just get a seat at the playoff table. Not many teams can be 13th in the conference after Jan. 1 and still make the eight-team tournament. Especially in a very difficult Western Conference. Just being able to do that -- especially given 1) the very difficult schedule, 2) the fact so many teams in the West were fighting for those seats at the table, and 3) the Wild had to do it almost exclusively by scoring goals five on five because the power play was completely useless -- was a hell of an accomplishment.

It also probably should have foretold the premature end to the season.

Go back and watch Games 2 through 4 against Chicago. And the third period of Game 1.

Then go watch the Wild win race after race and -- more importantly -- battle after battle against St. Louis the series before.

Chicago was dialed in against Minnesota, but the Wild were clearly slowing as the series wore on. Advantages I thought existed going into the series did not. We know the Blackhawks have a ton of scoring punch. Patrick Kane is incredible. Jonathan Toews is Mr. Everything. Their blue line sells out and blocks shots like no other, and Joel Quenneville is great at what he does.

But I thought Minnesota had the edge down the middle, with improved center depth (even if they're not great on draws). Then Brad Richards undressed Marco Scandella in Game 1. And Charlie Coyle didn't score in the series (also didn't finish the series playing center, a real indictment considering how much time the coaching staff invested in Coyle in the middle during the regular season). I was wrong.

I also was surprised at how slow Minnesota's defensemen looked. I knew Chicago had speed to burn up front, but the Blackhawks really made the Wild look silly in their own zone at times.

Offensively, Corey Crawford played well for the 'Hawks. He did. You don't post a near-.950 save percentage, even in a small four-game sample, by accident. But the Wild made it too easy on him. There wasn't enough net drive, and the blue line didn't do a good job creating lanes and getting pucks through traffic, something Chicago was much better at (and Dubnyk's elite puck-tracking ability was sneakily on display throughout).

Chicago also won an inordinate number of races and battles for pucks. Why is that? Did the Wild see a dialed-in adversary and struggle to meet the intensity level? Did the Wild finally succumb to the three-month grind they put themselves through just to get in?

I think it's a little bit of a few things, but the fatigue factor certainly weighs heavily. You're never going to get a team to admit it ran out of gas (though UMD was close in March when Denver won those two games in the NCHC playoffs). But the Wild clearly didn't have as much energy against Chicago as was present against the Blues in the previous round.

Watch Jason Zucker nearly get beat to a loose puck by Marian Hossa. Watch Scandella lose a board battle to Richards. Watch Coyle's effectiveness slip.

Too many guys weren't at their best against Chicago, while the Blackhawks played four very strong games.

So is it a step back.

Decisively, no.

The Wild needed to rip off a hell of a run in the second half of the season. When Dubnyk came on board, Minnesota was 18-19-5, good for 41 points, 13th in the West. As it turns out, making the playoffs required a minimum of 55 points in 40 games, a 70 percent rate that is almost unfathomable against a tough slate of Western foes.

The Wild got 59 points, nearly 74 percent of the available points.

The end result -- loss to Chicago in the second round -- was the same. The end result -- getting swept -- looks worse than a year ago.

But the fact this team was still alive to get swept in the second round is something worth noting, not forgetting.

2014-15 NHL Season Predictions: Me vs Hunter vs Hat

I'll try to get back in this post in the next 24 hours and elaborate a bit on my picks, but the theme this year is simple.

I pretend to know a few things about hockey. My son, 12-year-old Hunter, likes to play and watch hockey, but he really doesn't pay much attention to who's good and who's not. My hat has no clue whatsoever. Hasn't even heard of the teams.

So who can pick the divisions better?

ATLANTIC
Me
1. Boston
2. Tampa Bay
3. Montreal
4. Florida
5. Ottawa
6. Detroit
7. Toronto
8. Buffalo

Hunter
1. Boston
2. Tampa Bay
3. Buffalo
4. Montreal
5. Detroit
6. Florida
7. Ottawa
8. Toronto

Hat
1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Florida
4. Ottawa
5. Buffalo
6. Montreal
7. Toronto
8. Tampa Bay

METROPOLITAN
Me
1. N.Y. Rangers
2. Washington
3. N.Y. Islanders
4. Pittsburgh
5. Columbus
6. New Jersey
7. Philadelphia
8. Carolina

Hunter
1. Philadelphia
2. Carolina
3. N.Y. Rangers
4. Pittsburgh
5. N.Y. Islanders
6. Columbus
7. Washington
8. New Jersey

Hat
1. Carolina
2. New Jersey
3. Philadelphia
4. Pittsburgh
5. Washington
6. Columbus
7. N.Y. Islanders
8. N.Y. Rangers

CENTRAL
Me
1. Chicago
2. St. Louis
3. Minnesota
4. Dallas
5. Colorado
6. Nashville
7. Winnipeg

Hunter
1. Chicago
2. Colorado
3. Winnipeg
4. Minnesota
5. Nashville
6. Dallas
7. St. Louis

Hat
1. Winnipeg
2. Colorado
3. Chicago
4. Dallas
5. St. Louis
6. Nashville
7. Minnesota

PACIFIC
Me
1. Los Angeles
2. San Jose
3. Anaheim
4. Edmonton
5. Vancouver
6. Arizona
7. Calgary

Hunter
1. Los Angeles
2. San Jose
3. Anaheim
4. Vancouver
5. Arizona
6. Calgary
7. Edmonton

Hat
1. Calgary
2. Anaheim
3. Edmonton
4. San Jose
5. Los Angeles
6. Arizona
7. Vancouver

Wild, 15 Others Chase Lord Stanley

You can have your March Madness, your September football openers, your October baseball playoffs/cranking-up of football season, December bowls into NFL and college football playoffs, or whatever sports time of year you prefer.

Nothing makes goosebumps form on top of  goosebumps like the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I mean, well, um ... hold on. Just watch this.



Says it all.

First team to 16 wins gets the spoils. And the tears.

Anyway, the playoffs start Wednesday. I'll deliver some predictions later, but here are some thoughts on the Wild as they prepare to open up Thursday at Colorado.

This is really simple, in many ways. Colorado is a great story, but the story masks some problems with this team.

The nerds like to note that Colorado is the worst possession team in the tournament. The Avalanche get by that issue by carrying the best shooting percentage of any of these 16 teams. Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, and Gabriel Landeskog are elite. Semyon Varlamov had a great run this season.

However, Colorado's possession problem could rear its ugly head in this division bracket. St. Louis and Chicago are going to go to war for the right to advance, but both teams sport the kind of hard-nosed forwards it takes to break down the Avalanche.

So does Minnesota.

Ever since a 5-1 loss to St. Louis had the Wild on the brink of a lot of bad things, the group has banded together. If you're enough of a diehard, you probably know about the off-day "summit" the Wild on-ice leadership had in Phoenix after that St. Louis debacling. If not, stud beat writer Michael Russo wrote a lot about it, including here.

Bottom line: This team has been much more system-strong since that day off. Zach Parise made a comment after the St. Louis loss about the Blues' commitment to their system, and it was a subtle shot at his guys for a bevy of blue line turnovers that led to chances (and sometimes goals) for the opponents.

The Wild have been much better since then at getting pucks behind defensemen and going after them on the forecheck. It's one part of the success story, but it's a huge one, especially going into this best-of-seven.

Colorado isn't weak on defense, but the Avs aren't strong there, either. There are some young guys there, and some potentially vulnerable players. I'd like to see the Wild make them work for possession and make them earn their space up the rink. Colorado wants to play a rush game, but if the Wild can make them get away from firewagon hockey, the Avalanche can easily be beaten in this series.

Make Colorado break out more slowly, and make their forwards more engaged in the defensive zone. Puck retrievals and wall play take energy. Sap their will by making them earn every puck they get and every rush they're able to generate. Colorado has been really good this season at getting into run-and-gun type of games.

Remember the structure and the system. Stick to it, and good things will happen.

Of course, it ultimately comes down to goaltending. Varlamov has been great, and while Ilya Bryzgalov has been good for the Wild, the sample isn't very big. I did say when the Wild got him from Edmonton that I thought Bryzgalov would be solid playing for a team that has some structure in front of him, as Minnesota certainly does.

If Bryzgalov, who has a promising .923 even-strength save percentage, even matches what Varlamov (.933, by the way) can do, Minnesota probably wins. Ultimately, the talent gap in goal, which I do believe exists, is the biggest reason I have Colorado beating the Wild. If the Wild avoid getting suckered into run-and-gun hockey and get good goaltending, they very much have a shot in this series.

Commissioner For A Day: NHL

Let's get back into this vibe.

The NHL doesn't have as many dumb rules as college hockey, but there are some things we can change to improve the sport. As always, I want your thoughts via Twitter or the comments, but here are mine.

Bye bye, puck over glass rule

It has run its course.

This was a well-intentioned if unfortunate change coming out of the 2004-05 lockout. Basically, officials refused to call penalties when the puck was clearly sent out of play on purpose. So the NHL took away the discretion.

But enough is enough. Players are NOT doing it on purpose anymore. And when officials aren't calling the most blatantly obvious fouls late in regulation or in overtime, but won't hesitate to call a penalty for the puck going out of play, it just looks silly.

"Want to slash a guy in the chops? GREAT! Just be careful to keep the puck in play!"

It's no secret I want this rule to die. It's not because I want players to feel free to throw the puck out of play with no repercussions. Instead, it's because I see this play as no different than icing. Yeah, sometimes a player takes an icing to get a whistle. When that happens, you don't see an uproar for said player to be penalized for delay of game, do you? It's the same thing. You're doing something to stop the game. Quite often, it's done on purpose. Why is it handled differently?

In college hockey, icing and pucks out of play from the defensive zone are handled identically. Faceoff in the defensive zone, and that team can't change personnel.

Do that in the NHL, and see what happens. No one is marrying the league to this rule, and it isn't going to hurt to try.

Hybrid icing/mandatory visors

There isn't much reason to list this, now that the rules are coming. But I talked about the visor bit in 2006, and it took this long to make the change. Yikes.

The hybrid icing change should have come before Kurtis Foster got hurt, but it's insulting that it took this long after Foster's catastrophic injury. College hockey has used this rule for a while, and it works much better than I ever thought it would going in.

(In fact, when it was first talked about, I was on record as practically hating the idea. I was totally wrong, and NCAA referees and linesmen should be saluted for the job they've done enforcing it.)

I wish visors were the law for all players, but the compromise is understandable. Many veteran players are already smart enough to use them, and hopefully more follow suit.

Stop suspending to the injury

Part of the maddening inconsistency with the NHL's Department of Player Safety comes from its insistence on over-evaluating injuries before suspending players for illegal hits.

If a hit is 1) clearly illegal, 2) particularly dangerous, or 3) it's either clearly intentional or exceptionally reckless, it shouldn't matter if the "victim" is injured.

An illegal hit is an illegal hit, whether the offending player gets lucky and doesn't injure someone or not. And illegal/dangerous/reckless hits need to be consistently punished if there is to ever be any hope of eliminating them from the game.

Consistent enforcement of the guidelines set forth by DPS should lead to an increased respect for the sport among its participants. Then we can hope that trickles down to the lower levels where checking is still permitted.

And if it doesn't work, well, hell, at least we tried.

No more three-point games, at least not this way

A win is two points, whether in regulation, overtime, or a shootout. A loss that happens after regulation is a point. So if a game goes overtime, it's worth three points. Otherwise, it's worth two.

I don't have to tell you how dumb that is.

The answer is right under the NHL's nose, and if it wasn't the NHL we were talking about, it'd be shocking that the NHL hadn't changed this system.

Here is how you do it:

Regulation win: Three points
Overtime/shootout win: Two points
Overtime/shootout loss: One point

Every game is worth the same number of points. Regulation wins can still be a primary playoff tiebreaker, but using that doesn't excuse having games worth two different point totals depending on where they finish.

The Matt Cooke Conundrum

Listen, fans are going to react to things.

Remember, "fan" is short for "fanatic." Dictionary.com defines "fanatic" as "a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal."

No reasonable person expects a diehard fan to not react to news that involves said fan's favorite team.

However, a lot of Minnesota Wild fans went far enough over the weekend to embarrass themselves. Over-the-top reactions are part of sports fandom, yes, but you'd expect a little more out of Minnesota hockey fans than a lot of the stuff we saw after the Wild announced the signing of Matt Cooke.

You'd think Cooke had actually gone Happy Gilmore on the bit at some point, taking off his skate and trying to stab someone with it. Actually, it appeared that at least some fans thought that happened at some point.

Yes, Cooke has a history. The Marc Savard hit, which was deemed legal but was sadly far from that, was a stain on the sport. An awful, unnecessary, completely dirty play that reeked of intent to injure. The hit on Ryan McDonagh wasn't necessarily a good one, either, but the Savard hit practically makes the McDonagh hit look clean in comparison.

The suspensions Cooke has received in his career are completely justified. He probably should have gotten more, given what happened with Savard.

But Cooke hasn't been suspended since the McDonagh shot. That means that in the last two years, Pierre-Marc Bouchard has missed more games due to suspension.

No, Bouchard is not a goon. Cooke really isn't anymore, either.

(I'm not even going to address the Erik Karlsson bit. No reason to bother. If any other player on the Penguins roster does what Cooke did on that play, nobody bats an eye. Even Mike Milbury, discussing the incident on NBC Sports Network that night, acknowledged Cooke's history was the only reason the conversation started. It was a hockey play. After 20-plus years of playing hockey, Cooke didn't just up and decide to sever someone's Achilles.)

Even taking the history of Matt Cooke into account, the reaction of Wild fans on Twitter was scathing, and it's still going on. Do a search for his name on Twitter and enjoy some of the dumb things Wild fans have been saying about this move.

Based on that vitriol, I have to think Wild tickets will be readily available this season, because there are a lot of people who don't seem to want to watch a team Matt Cooke plays for.

Perhaps "embarrassing" is a bit over the top as well, but I've always thought of Minnesota people as being smarter than to fall into traps like this.

Cooke hasn't been suspended in so long that he is no longer a repeat offender in the NHL's eyes. He hasn't taken a major penalty for an illegal check in a regular season game since that ill-fated blow to the head of McDonagh in 2011.

He's been nearly a model citizen in the time since as a Penguin. Good in the community, good in the room, and good in his role on the ice.

His start with Minnesota has been rocky because of the overreaction of many fans, but he's done and said all the right things so far. This is from Michael Russo, chronicling an interview with him Monday on KFAN.

In my opinion, the best part of the interview came at the end when I asked about his number, 24. That number holds a special place in the hearts of many Wild fans because it was the number worn by the late Derek Boogaard. It’s also the number Cooke has worn his entire nearly 1,000-game NHL career.

“The team told me they’re OK with me wearing it because Marty [Havlat] wore it after [Boogaard],” Cooke told me. “I don’t really feel comfortable putting it on without his mum and dad’s blessing. I’ve sent emails off to them. I want to let them know that by putting it on I’m absolutely not doing anything disrespectful. It’s been my only number in the NHL, but at the end of the day, I don’t want anyone’s feelings hurt. I don’t want anyone to think that I am being disrespectful and I want to make sure I take care of that before I even entertain the thought of putting it on.”

Cooke has indeed received that blessing.

It's a class move on his part to even ask. 24 is not a retired number for the Wild. Yes, Boogaard was a legend around these parts, but the Wild were probably never going to retire that number based on what he did while with the team. Typically, cult heroes don't get their jersey numbers in the rafters.

Instead, Cooke -- in a great show of respect to what Boogaard meant to this team -- asked the team first and then Boogaard's family for its blessing before he went ahead with No. 24.

A lesser man would have just taken the number he's always had in his pro career without thinking twice. Cooke understands the history of the franchise he's joining, and he's sensitive to the way Boogaard was lost.

If anything, it probably should diffuse some of the anger toward this signing. Of course, I'm convinced that there is a legion of Minnesota Wild fans not reading anything about Cooke at this point. All they can see is red, and they'll be angry about Cooke until he does something to justify their anger.

I've never hid from the fact that Cooke's agitating and often dirty style of play has worn on me. But I like to watch former UMD players play in the NHL, meaning I've seen plenty of Pittsburgh games the last two seasons (Matt Niskanen). Cooke isn't the same guy, something Yahoo! Sports' Greg Wyshynski made clear with Russo Monday (same link as above):

“Some national media and especially NBC and especially Mike Milbury have been living in the past on Matt Cooke. Like Matt Cooke is not that guy. Matt Cooke is no longer the guy who took off [Marc] Savard’s head, who hit McDonagh from behind, who was injurious and nearly played himself out of the National Hockey League because of that play. He had a lot of personal issues that year, he solved them or at least worked through them. Go on NHL.com and see how many major penalties this guy’s taken in the last two years (none). You’ll be stunned because it’s like nothing. He’s not that player anymore. He’s a serviceable guy. Does he play on the edge? Yeah, of course he plays on the edge much like [Cal] Clutterbuck did. But he’s no longer the headhunter, he’s no longer the guy that you don’t think should be in the National Hockey League because he can’t behave himself. He’s a good contributor to a team. In the last two seasons under this Brendan Shanahan Department of Player Safety stuff, I think he’s earned the right to at least get a chance without being crucified by fans and media in Minnesota without having seen him play all that much with Pittsburgh in the last two years.”

Couldn't say it better. He signed for less than Cal Clutterbuck -- the man he's basically replacing here -- got from the Islanders after the Nino Niederreiter trade. He's probably a more effective player in this role than Clutterbuck was and is. As long as the talk about Cooke's better path as a hockey player is truly not just talk, this should work out fine for the Wild.

Give it ten games, and Wild fans will warm up to this guy.

Now, Todd Bertuzzi, on the other hand ...

UMD Players Past, Present, and Future at NHL Camps

Summer means a lot of downtime for hockey broadcasters. I've already taken a vacation and spent a lot of time at work watching old WWF YouTube videos working.

For hockey players, it's a good time to get some conditioning work in, as well as seeing where you stack up when it comes time to step to the next level.

A number of current and former UMD players are participating in NHL prospect development camps this month. These events do not affect college eligibility, unless you're Nick Leddy, who wowed the Blackhawks at a summer camp after his so-so freshman year at Minnesota to the point where he got signed practically on the spot.

Some players are at the camp of the team that drafted them. Others are free agents and are hoping to get a look for now or the future.

The list, via the good folks at College Hockey News, is as follows:

Current or future players
Sophomore defenseman Andy Welinski, Anaheim
Freshman forward Alex Iafallo, Buffalo
Senior forward Joe Basaraba, Florida
Freshman defenseman Carson Soucy, Minnesota
Sophomore forward Tony Cameranesi, Toronto
Freshman forward Dominic Toninato, Toronto
Committed (2014) defenseman Blake Heinrich, Washington
Junior forward Caleb Herbert, Washington

Former players
Defenseman Chris Casto, Boston
Goalie Kenny Reiter, NY Islanders
Forward Travis Oleksuk, San Jose
Defenseman Drew Olson, Tampa Bay

Meanwhile, former UMD All American goalie Alex Stalock re-signed with the San Jose Sharks on Friday, as NHL free agency opened. The move came after last season's San Jose backup goalie, Thomas Greiss, inked a deal with Phoenix. Stalock will compete with Harri Sateri to back up Antti Niemi for the Sharks this fall. Indications from reports in San Jose are that Stalock is expected to win this battle and start the season in the NHL. He has appeared in three NHL games over the course of his pro career, but has yet to make a start.

2013 NHL Draft: UMD, Area Represented

The 2013 NHL Draft brought plenty of interesting moves and decisions.

While we didn't get the blockbuster trades that were rumored (does that ever really happen in any sport?), it's always fun to see the best player in a draft (Seth Jones in this case) go fourth overall.

And you wonder why the teams in the top three were in those positions, and why two of them seem to have been there quite often, at least lately.

(I'll get off my soapbox now. Nathan MacKinnon is a good hockey player, but Jones is a special talent, and this reeks of the years where NFL teams felt they had to take a quarterback with the first pick, even if the quarterback wasn't the "best player" on the ol' board.)

Anyway, the Wild didn't have a first round pick. It was sent to Buffalo in the deal to acquire Jason Pominville. Efforts to move into the first round failed, so the Wild moved to acquire a recent first-round pick via trade.

Minnesota sent forward Cal Clutterbuck to the New York Islanders -- along with a third round pick -- for forward Nino Niederreiter. "El Nino" was a first-rounder in 2010, fifth overall. He was rushed to the NHL, with some speculating he was only on the Islanders' roster so they would hit the payroll floor mandated by the CBA. Niederreiter struggled in a fourth-line role, was banished to AHL Bridgeport, and demanded a trade when he wasn't invited to training camp after the lockout.

The Wild also dealt defenseman Justin Falk to the Rangers, hopefully ending the endless stream of "Didn't he play for UMD?" tweets. No, that's Justin FAULK. This is Justin FALK.

Anyway, the draft was also successful for college hockey. 63 current or future NCAA players were picked Sunday, marking the 12th straight year that number was at least 60.

The Wild picked up a future UMD defenseman, Carson Soucy, in the fifth round. Soucy will start at UMD this fall. He's a big body at 6-4 and the Wild like his ability with the puck. He will be the first Wild draft pick to suit up for UMD.

Grand Rapids star and (most likely) future college player Avery Peterson went to the Wild in the sixth round. Peterson is undecided on a college, and also undecided on high school or junior hockey this winter.

(Unsolicited advice: Stay in school. Peterson can still get better with Rapids, and he'll have memories he can't duplicate anywhere else in life. Play in juniors next season, then go to college.)

2014 UMD recruit Blake Heinrich -- a defenseman -- went in the fifth round to Washington. Future Bulldogs Adam Johnson and Neal Pionk were among those passed over. Both will join UMD after plying their craft in the USHL.

Random Rabble: May 16

For those who can't get enough of me -- and I can't imagine there are many of you -- I'm covering Chicago-Detroit for SBNation's NHL hub. I'll have stories throughout the series. My take on Game 1 is here. At this point, I'm not sure I see anyone beating Chicago. The Blackhawks are playing at an exceptionally high level, and they have gotten the kind of goaltending championship teams need to get, no matter how well they're playing.

As for the Wild, anyone who follows me on Twitter knows I'm somewhat conflicted on what I've seen from head coach Mike Yeo. That said, he had to stay, for a number of reasons. I'm not sure it's totally fair to judge a second-year coach after a shortened season like this. The Wild made a slew of big changes over the summer, and the young players GM Chuck Fletcher set out to start acquiring when he arrived are just now starting to make a real impact.

That said, improvement is a must now for Yeo. I didn't think the personnel was handled exquisitely. It seemed too much faith was put in veterans, even when they were struggling. Not enough lineup changes were made during the playoffs when things were clearly going south. The power play never really got going, and it was 0-for-17 in the five-game series loss to Chicago.

Wisconsin racing legend and former NASCAR driver Dick Trickle died Thursday of an apparent suicide. I don't quote Wikipedia often, but here's the lowdown on Trickle's short-track career, much of which came in the Badger State.

A big turning point in Trickle's career happened at the National Short Track Championship race at Rockford Speedway in 1966. Trickle said, "The cars in that area were fancier and looked like they were ahead of us. The didn't treat us bad, but they sort of giggled at us kids with the rat cars. After two days, they look differently at those rat cars. I won and pocketed $1,645. Before, I questioned spending the money to travel that far. But if you could win, that was a different story." Trickle started the 1967 season by winning at State Park Speedway and ended the season with 25 feature victories including wins at Wisconsin Dells Speedway (now Dells Raceway Park) and Golden Sands Speedway (near Wisconsin Rapids).

He toured on the Central Wisconsin Racing Association (CWRA) tracks in 1971. The circuit consisted of larger asphalt track racing on most nights of the week.[9] CWRA regular drivers were able to run over 100 events in a year, and most did the tour with one car and one engine. Drivers would drive on Wednesday nights at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Thursday nights at State Park Speedway near Wausau, Friday nights at Capitol Speedway (now Madison International Speedway) near Madison, La Crosse, or Adams-Friendship, Saturday nights at Wisconsin Dells Speedway, and Sunday nights at Griffith Park. Tuesday nights were available for special events.

On Thursday nights at the quarter mile State Park Speedway, he won seven features and lowered his July 1 14.27 second track record to 14.09 seconds on the following week. On Friday nights he raced primarily at Capitol Speedway, winning most nights that rain or his car did not break. Trickle went to Adams-Friendship on July 23 and won the feature after setting the track record. He held the track record at six tracks: Adams-Friendship, Capitol, Wausau, Wisconsin Dells, and La Crosse. He raced at the newly opened third mile Wisconsin Dells Speedway on Saturday nights. By the end of the year, Trickle had won 58 feature events.

Trickle started his 1972 season by winning at Golden Sands Speedway near Wisconsin Rapids. Wisconsin's short track racing season starts in April. By May 13, he had twelve wins in thirteen events. He got this fifteenth win in twenty starts on May 27. Trickle became the winningest short track driver that year when he won his 67th race.

Trickle won numerous special events outside of Wisconsin in 1973, including a 200-lap feature at Rolla, Missouri in April, following by winning a 50-lap feature the following day at I-70 Speedway near Odessa, Missouri. In May he won a 50-lapper at Springfield, Missouri and two more features at I-70 Speedway. Trickle used his purple 1970 Ford Mustang to win at the Minnesota Fair and at Rockford Speedway in September. He had a total of 57 wins in 1973.

Trickle became well-known nationally during his NASCAR Winston Cup career. The old ESPN SportsCenter pair of Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann always made a point to mention where Trickle finished. Maybe they liked his name or something. Olbermann noted the following on Twitter upon word of Trickle's passing.

Awful news: Dick Trickle is dead ... No sports figure Dan + I had fun with took it more graciously. In fact, gratefully.

Olbermann went on to credit Trickle for helping increase NASCAR's visibility on SportsCenter. He said the attention they gave Trickle eventually trickled down (pun intended) to the races themselves, whether Trickle raced in them or not.

His name probably made him famous more than his driving, but Dick Trickle was one hell of a race car driver.

Terrific Homer Jack Edwards' Reaction to Game-Tying Goal Worth Watching

Jack Edwards is the television play-by-play voice for the Boston Bruins on NESN. He's a bit of a homer.

OK, he's a gigantic homer.

And he gets into these games.

Watch him react to the Boston Bruins scoring twice with their goalie pulled to rally from 3-1 down to tie the Rangers Tuesday night.



Fantastic.

2013 NHL Season Predictions

I'm sure this will go well, eh? It always does.

My division winners, Stanley Cup pick, and awards picks posted on SB Nation Friday. Here are the rest of my guesses on a season that is sure to be exciting to watch. As much as the shortened season was a win for the NBA last season, I believe firmly that the NHL can win here, if it plays its cards right.

And, yes, that's a big "if."

Anyway, here are full division and conference predictions, so it's all on the record for when I'm wrong.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
1. Pittsburgh
2. NY Rangers
3. Philadelphia
4. New Jersey
5. NY Islanders

This is very much contingent on Sid being healthy, as well as Marc-Andre Fleury regaining some semblance of confidence after it looked like Philly shattered most of it in last year's playoff series. I like this Rangers team, but I don't trust this Rangers team. As Barry Melrose said on ESPN Friday, there are no excuses now. They have everything they've asked for there. The Flyers need goaltending to be a serious contender. The Devils have to replace a lot of goals lost, and didn't sign anyone to do it, while the Islanders ... um, yeah. They have John Tavares.

Northeast Division
1. Boston
2. Buffalo
3. Ottawa
4. Toronto
5. Montreal

The Bruins look made for a short season, provided Tuukka Rask can take over capably for Tim Thomas in goal. Thomas' departure also makes Boston a much more likable team. The Sabres will ride Ryan Miller to the playoffs, while I think the Senators have a real chance to sneak in. Ottawa does better if Craig Anderson does it again. I just don't know that the Sens have enough to make a run again this year. The Maple Leafs and Canadiens look positively wretched.

Southeast Division
1. Washington
2. Florida
3. Carolina
4. Winnipeg
5. Tampa Bay

First-year coach Adam Oates looks to reinvigorate Alex Ovechkin, who admitted he didn't exactly enjoy himself last season. It'll be an interesting battle with the defending division champion Panthers, along with Carolina and Winnipeg, both of which should be improved. The Hurricanes added Jordan Staal, while the Jets didn't make a lot of moves but will instead be improved. Don't count Tampa Bay out, either, but I don't think the Lightning are strong enough defensively.

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
1. St. Louis
2. Chicago
3. Nashville
4. Detroit
5. Columbus

There are potential issues with the Blues. For starters, they won a lot of low-scoring games. They also won a ton against the East, a conference they don't play a single game against in a shortened season. But Ken Hitchcock has skill, toughness, and grit up front, along with great defense and tandem goaltending. Chicago contends if Corey Crawford holds up, but that's not a given. I think the loss of Ryan Suter will do more damage to Nashville than losing Shea Weber would have. But that could just be an overly-optimistic Wild fan talking. Detroit better score tons of goals. Columbus, ah, yeah.

Northwest Division
1. Minnesota
2. Vancouver
3. Edmonton
4. Colorado
5. Calgary

Call me crazy, but the Wild made some really good moves, not even including signing Suter and Zach Parise. Suter is huge because of the impact he'll make on the blue line. Don't forget the signings of Zenon Konopka and Torrey Mitchell, or the addition of stud center Mikael Granlund. No knock on Vancouver, because this should be a hell of a division race. Cory Schneider makes an impact as the No. 1 goalie. The young guns in Edmonton will be ready to go after a half-season of seasoning in the AHL. Look for a fast start there. The Avalanche will continue to improve, while I think the Flames will drop off a bit this year. Change could be coming to that roster.

Pacific Division
1. San Jose
2. Los Angeles
3. Dallas
4. Phoenix
5. Anaheim

LA is the hot pick here, but I'm taking the Sharks, who have scoring depth, defense, and a determined goalie in Antti Niemi. The Kings will nip at their heels if they don't beat them out. Dallas will surge ahead if Jamie Benn signs quickly, which he should. Who will score for Phoenix? It's a question that sounds familiar, but at some point we will run out of answers. The Ducks are a mess in many phases, but there is star power here, and if their heads are right, the team should improve.

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS
1. Boston
2. Washington
3. Pittsburgh
4. NY Rangers
5. Buffalo
6. Philadelphia
7. Florida
8. Carolina
9. New Jersey
10. Winnipeg
11. Ottawa
12. Tampa Bay
13. Toronto
14. NY Islanders
15. Montreal

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFFS
1. St. Louis
2. San Jose
3. Minnesota
4. Los Angeles
5. Vancouver
6. Chicago
7. Dallas
8. Edmonton
9. Nashville
10. Detroit
11. Colorado
12. Phoenix
13. Anaheim
14. Calgary
15. Columbus

EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPION
Pittsburgh
WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPION
St. Louis
STANLEY CUP CHAMPION
Pittsburgh

Central Scouting Rankings Include Numerous UMD Recruits, Local Faces

The NHL is locked out, but the process of scouting players for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft is underway.

(Of course, if the NHL season is cancelled, we don't know when that draft will happen. Or who will pick first.)

(Then again, if they use the same lottery system they rigged so Pittsburgh could win used in 2005, Toronto will be practically a shoo-in to win. Which means someone else will. Maybe Pittsburgh.)

Anyway, NHL Central Scouting has released a preliminary list of top prospects for the 2013 draft. The players are grouped by league, and then assigned a letter grade, A, B, or C.

"A" prospects are considered potential first-round picks, while "B" players are said to be second- or third-round picks. "C" level players are believed to be candidates for selection in later rounds.

As usual, UMD and local high school teams are represented on the list. Here is a rundown.

Freshman forward Austin Farley is the only current UMD player listed. The former Fargo Force (USHL) star is a "C" skater, along with four other WCHA freshmen (two of them are from Denver).

As far as recruits go, defenseman Blake Heinrich (Hill-Murray) is a "B" skater, and fellow blue-liner Willie Raskob (Shattuck-St. Mary's) is a "C" skater, as is Hibbing forward Adam Johnson.

Waterloo defenseman Ian McCoshen is listed at the "A" level. McCoshen is uncommitted, but has listed UMD among those still in the running.

Hermantown defensemen Neal Pionk and Jake Zeleznikar are both listed as "C" level skaters.

The rankings will be updated next in November, with a final listing due out before the draft.

Random Rabble: July 16

Former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand penned this week's Monday Morning Quarterback at SI.com, filling in for the incomparable Peter King. LeGrand, who suffered a serious spinal cord injury on a kickoff play in 2010, was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this spring. The Bucs are now coached by LeGrand's college coach, Greg Schiano. LeGrand insists he will walk again, and also addresses the issue of player safety on kickoffs. NFL people have at least discussed the idea of removing kickoffs from the sport.

Take it from someone who has gotten injured on a kickoff: I think kickoffs in the NFL should return to the way they used to be, because lots of football players can make a career out of playing on special teams, and the new system takes some of the thrill and excitement of the game out.

Couldn't agree with LeGrand more. Generally, you'd expect someone like LeGrand -- whose life was forever altered by a chance happening on an admittedly dangerous football play -- to at least be on the fence. Instead, LeGrand acknowledges that what happened to him is not something that happens with any kind of regularity.

He's right. A lot of players can make a career out of special teams, and removing kickoff plays from the game would certainly take some excitement away.

Former UMD star Tim Stapleton signed a deal with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League last week. Stapleton talked to the Winnipeg Free Press about his decision.

"It wasn't an easy decision. I even woke up today thinking, 'Man, what did I do?' But it's just something that made sense, especially turning 30 (next week). I've got to look out for life after hockey."

Stapleton posted career highs in goals (11) and points (27) and managed to score three game-winners while working predominantly on the Jets' fourth line.

But with a handful of players/prospects in the system ready to grab his spot, this popular and respected teammate was not atop the priority list of an organization that stressed size as one of its key off-season needs.

"It's too bad. I did everything I possibly could because I wanted to come back but I think their main focus was they wanted to get bigger," said Stapleton.

"I've been dealing with this situation (all) my career as far as getting into the NHL. And then when I get in I'm still dealing with it. I sat down with a lot of people, including my family, and we weighed the pros and cons. I had to look at what is in front of me and all I had was Russia.

"I guess now I get to become a fan now and I'll definitely be following the team and all the guys."

Stapleton did indeed have a good season for Winnipeg, but the lack of interest in an undersized forward pushing 30 is not awfully surprising. I figured a lot of guys would be in the same boat, faced with deciding between an offer to play overseas and the prospect of waiting for the CBA negotiations to play out before getting any serious NHL offers.

I don't know what he's making with Minsk, but it's probably more than he'd make on an NHL deal. With Minsk, Stapleton also has the security of knowing there will be a season, something we can't say in the NHL right now.

Speaking of the ongoing NHL CBA negotiations, if the reports from Friday are at all accurate, we'll be here for a while.

According to RDS Insider Renaud Lavoie's Twitter account, the NHL made its initial proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement to the NHLPA in Toronto today:

NHL proposal to players: 1-reduce players hockey related revenues to 46% from 57 %. 2-10 seasons in NHL before being UFA.

3-contracts limites to 5 years 4-no more salary arbitration. 5- entry-level contract 5 years instead of 3.

To Clarify the initial proposal:

1. Right now it's 57-43 in favor of the players. Owners want it to be 54-46 in favor of the owners

2. In the last CBA negotiations during the 2004-05 season elimination, the NHL agreed to accelerating unrestricted free agency from 10 years to age 27 (or 7 years).

3. There are currently no contract limits, which Wild fans learned last week when Zach Parise and Ryan Suter were given 13-year deals by Minnesota.

4. There's currently player elected and club elected arbitration

5. Is self-explanatory above.

Um.

I tweeted Saturday that the owners should be ashamed of this offer. It's ridiculous. It sends an awfully poor message about where things stand, as well as the chances of the league starting its next season on time.

It's also another sign that ownership wants the players to help save them from themselves. Of course, as we learned in the NBA -- where nearly a third of the season was lost so teams could throw eight-figure salaries at guys like Jeremy Lin -- nothing can save the owners from themselves. They will always find a way to overspend and stretch their resources way too thin.

The only benefit to the players taking this one-sided deal would be getting to watch the owners find a way to keep overspending.

You'll also note in the report that owners want entry-level deals stretched to five years instead of three. Call me crazy, but does anyone else think this would only add to the number of players looking to get away from the teams that drafted them, like Justin Schultz did? You can swallow a three-year commitment to a team you might not want to play for, but five is a ton.

I can see the owners' side on this, because there is a lot of money and time and effort put into the draft, and allowing only three years on the maximum entry-level deal means teams have to spend even more money.

It's totally just a thought, but I'm curious if it is something that could play out. Of course, the CBA negotiation also presents a chance to get rid of the rule that allows drafted players to become free agents, even if the team that drafted the player wants to sign him. If that happens, it doesn't matter what happens to entry-level deals.

Zach Parise, Ryan Suter Change Wild Culture Just By Signing

What an amazing Fourth of July, eh?

For the first time since its run to the Western Conference Final in 2003, the Minnesota Wild are on the map.

I columnized the bit for SBNation yesterday. Here that is.

Michael Russo of the Star Tribune was on top of this story throughout. Here is his main story for the Thursday paper.

Strib columnist Jim Souhan talked to Wild owner Craig Leipold, who is pretty happy.

Season tickets and Parise/Suter jerseys are on sale now!

Among the other reactions: Jack Jablonski is happy, and the Wild are no longer 200:1 to win the Stanley Cup.

As you can see, there is a lot of hockey being talked about for it being July 5. That alone should be considered a victory for this once-downtrodden franchise, one that couldn't buy a break for years.

Since its inception, the Wild have really only had one bona fide star, and Marian Gaborik never became the consistent superstar the team needed to build around. He was never the face of the franchise off the ice.

In one fell swoop on a national holiday, the Wild brought in two players who can be both of those things. Parise is from Minneapolis, while Suter has Midwestern roots (from Wisconsin, and his wife is from Bloomington; Suter's father, Bob, played on the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, uncle Gary was an NHL regular for years, and father-in-law Stan Palmer was a four-year defenseman for UMD). They wanted to play in Minnesota, turning down more money elsewhere so they could be teammates and play in the place of their choice.

These are two guys of high character, both on and off the ice, and the Wild will experience an immediate benefit. Once the season starts (hopefully October!), the team will see a difference on the ice.

Parise is an upgrade to the Wild's top line with Mikko Koivu, whether he has Dany Heatley or Devin Setoguchi at right wing. He also makes the Wild's power play better, with his scoring touch and willingness to go in the dirty areas.

Suter gives Minnesota a true PP1 point man. They can stick Pierre-Marc Bouchard out there as a fourth forward to work the half-wall, knowing that Suter can control things up high. It's a huge addition, possibly more significant than Parise, because Suter adds to a position that was not strong or deep, and he's a perfect fit for Mike Yeo's system.

Hopefully, July 4 isn't remembered as the day Leipold overspent for average players. Instead, we want it to be the day the Wild finally gained footing as a legitimate NHL franchise.

Former UMD Players Cash In

A number of former UMD players signed new pro contracts over the weekend, as NHL free agency opened on Sunday.

One -- defenseman Jason Garrison (2005-2008) -- really cashed in on the league's annual spending spree. Garrison inked a six-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks, one that will pay him $27.6 million.

Garrison spoke with me Monday from Chicago about his new beginning.

He joins another former UMD star, Mason Raymond, on the Vancouver roster. Raymond struggled last season after suffering a serious back injury during Game 6 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, but is expected back on a one-year deal at this point.

Elsewhere, another Garrison teammate at UMD, Matt Niskanen, signed for two more years in Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old Niskanen will make $4.6 million over two seasons, a bargain if he keeps improving like he did in his year-and-a-half in Pittsburgh.

Niskanen's confidence looked shot at times in Dallas. His trade to Pittsburgh appeared to come at a perfect time, as it put him in a different system where he could flourish. The Penguins' style, which is more about puck-moving and skating, seems a much better fit for the former Virginia/MIB Blue Devil.

Another defenseman -- Evan Oberg -- signed a one-year, two-way deal with Tampa Bay. Oberg played three games in the NHL last season, but was a regular for a Norfolk Admirals team that won the Calder Cup title and finished the year winning 45 of its last 48 games.

Forward Tim Stapleton, one of the top scorers in UMD history, is a free agent as of Sunday. He spent last season with the Winnipeg Jets after making the move with the franchise from Atlanta.

Justin Schultz Gets His Choice

When Blake Wheeler bailed on the Phoenix Coyotes for the chance to become an unrestricted free agent, it was a rather surprising move. It was a rule people knew about, but not one a first-round pick and highly-touted prospect had used the way Wheeler did.

Wheeler has carved out a pretty good career for himself in the NHL, so it's hard to say things didn't work out for him. Phoenix has turned itself into a perennial playoff team, despite budget constraints and all the drama surrounding the franchise's future in Arizona. So, yeah, it's worked out for the Coyotes, too.

When Wisconsin lost to Denver in the first round of the WCHA playoffs in March, conventional wisdom was that defenseman Justin Schultz would sign with the Anaheim Ducks, the team that drafted him in 2008. That didn't happen, and it immediately started to look like Schultz was taking advantage of the same rule Wheeler did.

Per the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement, a player who is drafted and then plays in junior for one season before going to college can exercise a rule in the agreement. That player has the right to withdraw from school after his junior year. After a 30-day window where the drafting team has exclusive negotiating rights, the player can become an unrestricted free agent, just like Wheeler did, and now how Schultz has done.

It's a rule that allows players who played junior hockey for a year before going to college to be treated the same as those who go straight to college. After four years have passed, a team has to make a decision ... if the player withdraws from school and forces the team to make that call.

Players who spend their four post-draft seasons in college have the same rights Schultz does. They can become free agents if they choose to not sign in the 30-day window.

It's a rule that not everyone understands (even after Wheeler signed with Boston, I didn't totally understand it), but it does make perfect sense if you think about it.

The only thing I don't like about it is entry-level players have more freedom than restricted free agents. I'm not sure I like the message that sends.

A restricted free agent who is extended a qualifying offer by his current team has virtually no freedom compared to what Schultz has now. That RFA can sign an offer sheet with a different team, but the current team has a right to match the offer and keep the player. In the case of Schultz, Anaheim has no right. The club offered Schultz the max, but obviously Schultz wants to play elsewhere.

Per the CBA, it's his right. That doesn't make it right.

It's something I'd like to see fixed in the upcoming negotiations, though I fully understand it isn't a priority for Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr. Entry-level players should not have more rights when it comes to "picking" their NHL team than experienced free agents do.

As for the future, I've tweeted this before, but I'd be willing to bet Schultz ends up with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Buddy Jake Gardiner was traded there, and it seems the Leafs' move of Luke Schenn could have been made to open a spot among their top four defensemen for Schultz to fill.

Can Schultz step in and be a top four defenseman in the NHL? Well, he's as good as I've seen in college hockey over my seven years calling games there. He has puck-moving, skating, and hockey sense that can translate to any level, including the NHL. There's no reason he won't be very good, but there's obviously some risk when you're talking about a guy who played in the BCHL for juniors and then played three years in college.

I have no problem with Schultz taking advantage of the opportunity presented to him by the CBA. None whatsoever. Ducks fans probably disagree, but that's the nature of the beast. Their anger should be directed at the system that allows this. Some will be mad at GM Bob Murray for not making a deal for Schultz's negotiating rights during the 30-day window. I'm not sure what good that would have done, since a deal with the Maple Leafs seems like a foregone conclusion, to the point that I've heard the "T" word (tampering) thrown around.

In the end, it's unfortunate that the Ducks will lose a potentially great defenseman, but it's hard to look down on Schultz for doing what he thinks is best for him.

Wild Plans For Duluth Exhibition Dropped Because of Lockout Concerns

The Minnesota Wild visited Duluth last fall for two training camp practices and team-building time. You might remember that goalie Josh Harding was injured during one of the team-building exercises, forcing Houston Aeros GM Jim Mill to don the goalie pads for the first practice at Amsoil Arena, as Aeros goalie Matt Hackett couldn't get to Duluth in time for it.

At the time, nothing but nice things could be heard from players and staff about their stay in northern Minnesota. They were very complimentary of everything, including the new facility they got to practice in.

It led to people asking if there was a future for the Wild in Duluth that could include a preseason game down the line. After all, the team didn't hold any public events while they visited in October. Maybe next time, right?

Well, "next time" was supposed to be "this fall." According to a source with knowledge of the plans, the Wild were scheduled to visit Amsoil Arena for one of their home preseason games in the fall of 2012. However, those plans were changed because of uncertainty regarding the possible NHL lockout.

The league's collective bargaining agreement expires Sept. 15. The Wild announced their preseason schedule Monday, and that is slated to start ten days later. With such a small lag time between the expiration of the deal and the start of the preseason, the smartest of smart money is on the preseason not starting on time because of a lockout.

Per the source, plans were underway for the game, but those plans were derailed because of Wild management's concerns about the CBA and uncertainty associated with negotiations. Reading between the lines, it's clear that no one would have wanted a situation where tickets were sold and local residents excited over a game that had little chance of happening in the first place.

The Wild are still scheduled to visit Duluth June 25 as part of the annual Wells Fargo Wild Road Tour. Players Nate Prosser and Jason Zucker will be joined by radio broadcasters Bob Kurtz and Tom Reid for the event, which starts at 11:30am at the Duluth Heritage Sports Center.

Hockey Rabble: June 5

I want to send sympathies to the family and friends of Dick Stewart. The longtime Duluth hockey supporter died Monday night at the age of 92, just nine days after he lost his wife of 63 years, Maxine. Stewart was a fixture at UMD hockey games, listening on the radio after his eyes failed him, but rarely missing a game. It became a tradition for the UMD students to chant his name as he waved his trademark winsock during a break in game action. UMD players, boosters, and fans will all miss Stewart's presence, and his loss is a huge one for the Duluth hockey community. Services are pending.

Buddy Chris Dilks of Western College Hockey scoops that Hill-Murray forward Charlie Sampair has committed to play college hockey at UMD. Sampair had 30 goals as a senior for the Pioneers as they finished second at the state tournament. Sampair was drafted into the USHL by the Indiana Ice, but it's expected he will play for UMD in the 2012-13 season.

The Stanley Cup Final is going to end on cable Wednesday, when the Los Angeles Kings finish off a sweep of the New Jersey Devils. I'm not complaining about the sweep, because it's the first Cup Final sweep since Detroit beat Washington with relative ease in 1998. It's the first time since 2007 the series has failed to go at least six games. However, the fact that the NHL cut a television deal with NBC that allows its signature event to end on a cable network that doesn't have great reach is a loss for hockey fans. You don't see World Series games on TBS. The NBA Finals don't air on ESPN or TNT. What American pro sports championships are decided on cable? MLS, the WNBA, Major League Lacrosse, etc. Nice company, NHL.

(I get the NBC Sports Network idea here. Obviously, it's a huge get for a growing network. I don't doubt that, and in most years, this won't be an issue at all. However, this is one of those years where it looks like a potential problem. I want NBCSN to grow as much as anyone -- ESPN badly needs someone who can compete for eyeballs and rights packages to slow their monopoly on things -- but I don't believe putting Stanley Cup Final games there is the right way to get that growth.)

That said, there aren't enough words to describe what the Kings did to the Devils on Monday. Holy smokes. Liam McHugh called it a "soul-crushing" defeat on the postgame show, and that's about as good as I can do. I don't Jersey is at all a threat to win four straight, but it will be interesting to see if the Devils can put together a good performance Wednesday.

Nicklas Lidstrom's Timing Off?

Much has been made of last week's retirement announcement by Detroit Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom.

(I wrote two pieces for SB Nation regarding Lidstrom's decision. This one talks about Lidstrom's greatness, both on and off the ice. After I took a shower, I wrote this one, which contains lots of speculation about how it could affect the free agent status of Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, who could cash in big-time come early July.)

The announcement came Thursday, one day after the Stanley Cup Final opened up in New Jersey. The fact that there was an extra day off between games may have been part of the timing, but there has been criticism out there of Lidstrom making the announcement after the series started.

Puck Daddy's Ryan Lambert wrote Monday about his issues with Lidstrom's timing.

(The) decision to announce that he would call it a career on a day between Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final was a serious misstep for him and his franchise.

Let's say this was any player in the sport today besides Lidstrom, who chose to reveal they were retiring in the middle of the Cup Final. Now, granted, it wouldn't have had nearly as big of an impact because, let's face it, no one in hockey today is Nick Lidstrom. But for another, he would have been excoriated by the media, and rightly so.

(A few years back, Alex Rodriguez announced that he would be opting out of his contract with the Yankees in the middle of the World Series, and got torched for it.)

This is the type of thing that only serves to distract from what is, and should be, the greatest two weeks of the NHL season.

I saw somewhere that Lidstrom apparently arrived at his decision to retire a week ago, which leads one to wonder, "Why wait until now, when Game 1 of as many as seven is in the books?" There's not really a good answer to that. For all the Red Wings organization are famed for having, this strikes as remarkably tonedeaf, especially considering the stink a team like Detroit would kick up if someone did it to them. Remember, this is a franchise that tried to get the entire League re-aligned and playoff system revamped because it didn't like its current travel schedule. If the decision was made a week ago, then hold the presser in the days leading up to Game 1; or, better yet, hold it after. It would have no bearing on the Red Wings' offseason plans, especially if they knew internally how to proceed.

(To be fair here, Lambert is a known hater of the Red Wings, but the thoughts in this piece are incredibly rational and don't seem to be about tweaking the incredibly sensitive sector of Red Wings fans.)

It's not a huge deal in my view, but Lambert is correct. A quick Google search finds that people were pissed off that Rodriguez opted out of his Yankees contract and announced his decision during the World Series. Generally, baseball teams are discouraged from making major announcements during the World Series. The Yankees sought permission to name a new manager during the 2007 World Series.

There is no rule in the NHL on such a thing, nor should there be. But there should be a sort of professional courtesy. No offense to his family, but if a guy like Greg Zanon wants to retire and announce it during the Stanley Cup Final, it's fine. Greg Zanon's retirement has no chance of upstaging the sport's most important event.

Nicklas Lidstrom's does, and everyone involved -- Lidstrom, his agent, and the Red Wings -- should have known that going in. No amount of attention rightfully heaped on Lidstrom last week should have been a surprise to anyone.

That's the most disappointing thing about it. The Red Wings should have seen this coming, and encouraged him to announce it either the weekend before the Final or in the days after it ended.

For perhaps the first time in his storied hockey career, Lidstrom's timing was off. Because he had built up so much positive equity during his time in the sport, no one is going to rip him for it like Rodriguez got ripped in 2007. But Lambert is right to call him and the team on it, and hopefully it's a lesson for everyone in the game to think twice before putting themselves ahead of a major hockey event.

(I'm looking at you, Tim Thomas. Now would be a good time to slump down in the back seat of that lady's cab again. You've done the game wrong. Again.)