Bob Nielson Named Coach of the Year

Outside of being a snazzy dresser, a class act, and a heck of a busy guy, UMD football coach and athletic director Bob Nielson is also the best coach in Division II.

For the second time in three years, UMD won the Division II national championship, beating Delta State (Miss.) 20-17 on Dec. 18 in Florence, Ala.

This year, Nielson added the Liberty Mutual Division II Football Coach of the Year award to his list of honors.

Here is the release from UMD:

After a season marked by the success of the University of Minnesota Duluth on the football field, achievements by his student-athletes in the classroom, and tireless dedication to his communities and charities, Bulldog head coach Bob Nielson today received the ultimate reward for his inspirational efforts both on and off the field. Liberty Mutual Insurance announced Nielson as its 2010 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award winner for Division II. The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award is the leading college football honor recognizing coaches for their sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence, on and off field.

Nielson rose above a group of five Division II coach finalists through fan votes cast Dec. 13-28 at www.CoachoftheYear.com and ballots from elite selection committees of national media and College Football Hall of Fame players and coaches. Fans votes contributed 20 percent to each coach’s final score, and the media and College Football Hall of Fame accounted for 25 percent and 55 percent, respectively. The other 2010 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year winners include Gene Chizik, Auburn University (FBS) K.C. Keeler, University of Delaware (FCS) and Glenn Caruso, University of St. Thomas (Division III).

“Nielson embodies the spirit of the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award through his dedication to his students, team and community, and fans should be proud of the significant impact they made through their votes and support for their teams, alma maters and coaches,” said Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual senior vice president, Consumer Marketing. “As a company that values ‘doing the right thing’ as its core responsibility, we introduced the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award in 2006 to celebrate responsibility in coaching because we believe it is one of the clearest examples of a positive influence one can have on young people, their families and their communities. Liberty Mutual is delighted to celebrate Bob Nielson with our award.”

This past fall, the 51-year old Nielson directed the Bulldogs to their second NCAA Division II championship in three years, defeating Delta State University 20-17 on a last-second field goal in the title game to cap off a perfect 15-0 season. In his eight years at UMD, Nielson has won four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles (including the last three in a row with identical 10-0 marks) and earned four NCAA II playoff berths while amassing a 79-21 record, the best in the school’s storied 78-year football history. Along the way, he has produced 14 All-Americans along with a pair of Harlon Hill Award finalists and has helped nurture classroom champions as well (nine Bulldogs received 2010 NSIC All-Academic Team status, including senior running back Isaac Odim, who was chosen as one of 16 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award recipents as well as the 2010 ESPN Academic All-America of the Year for football).

Nielson, who has also served as UMD’s director of intercollegiate athletics since 2004, is known throughout the Duluth area for his civic and philanthropic endeavors. This year, he was the honorary chairman of the Udac “Walk a Mile in Our Shoes” campaign, helping to provide fitness services for individuals with severe physical, mental or developmental disabilities. He also organizes and leads a Junior Football League clinic, and he and his players and staff participate in an annual fishing tournament to raise money for ALS research.

Nielson will be honored in the permanent Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year display at the College Football Hall of Fame. In addition, Liberty Mutual will make a $50,000 charitable donation on his behalf, which Nielson has designated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Northland, Mentor Duluth, the Northern Lights Foundation, the Udac STEPS program, and Peace in Christ Lutheran Church in Hermantown, Minn. A $20,000 scholarship award also will be presented in his name to the University of Minnesota Duluth Alumni Association. With this year’s award, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year winners have now donated more than $1.2 million since the award’s inception in 2006.

"On behalf of our football program and coaching staff I want to thank Liberty Mutual for this award and for their commitment to college football and the coaching profession," said Nielson. "As a coach, you work to help make a difference in the lives of those who you coach and this award certainly emphasizes the value and importance of those efforts. I am truly honored to have been selected as this year's NCAA Division II recipient."

Packers Find a Way

Survive and advance.

Survive and advance.

This is the mantra when you get into tournament play, no matter the sport, no matter the level of competition.

It's especially true in the high-stakes world of NFL football, where the ability to move on in the playoffs can often be directly tied to a missed field goal or two, one underthrown pass, one foot out of bounds, one first down, or one sequence of bend-but-don't-break plays by a big-play defense.

For the Green Bay Packers, it took all of those things to overcome two fumbles, a critical drop of a perfect throw that could have put the game out of reach before halftime, and an offense that couldn't do much of anything after halftime.

It all added up to a 21-16 win in Philadelphia Sunday that:

• Kept the Packers' season alive.
• Showed they could win a close game away from Lambeau Field after losing so many (they had lost their last three road games by a total of 11 points, and their five total road losses were by a total of 17).
• They don't need Aaron Rodgers to throw for 400 yards to win.
• They can run the ball, after all.

Yes, there were hiccups. Rodgers' fumble in the third quarter was awful and preventable. James Jones would have been seeing that drop before halftime -- a sure touchdown -- in his sleep had the Packers lost. The Packers played a bit of prevent offense after halftime, especially once they got up 21-10.

But Dom Capers' defense came to play again, and while Tramon Williams' game-clinching interception was the only turnover they forced, they did a very good job containing Michael Vick. They were physical, stopped the run very well, and did a great job of stretching Philadelphia's only touchdown drive of the game.

(Their third-quarter touchdown came after Rodgers coughed it up at the Packers' 24. That's hardly a touchdown drive.)

The reward is another road game for a team still under .500 for the season away from Lambeau. They play No. 1 seed Atlanta on Saturday night. The short week and invigorating road win help.

So does the indoor venue. We still haven't seen definitive proof that Rodgers is a good cold-weather quarterback, and this is hardly the time to go asking for that. Instead, here's hoping the indoor venue is not of a serious advantage to the Falcons, who play in one of America's worst sports towns. It strikes as the kind of game where the Packers can take the crowd out of it by simply scoring first and making a defensive stop.

My long-standing motto has been to kick off to start a game whenever possible. I'm a big fan of letting the defense make a stop, and I like the idea of my team getting the ball to start the second half, because that's usually a more important time for momentum in the game.

Saturday might be an exception. Let Rodgers and Company on the field first. A six- or seven-minute touchdown drive could be the best possible way to start this road playoff game. Let "Matty Ice" stand on the sideline and watch as the Packers kill all their pregame momentum.

Then we'll see if Matt Ryan can live up to his stupid and largely unwarranted nickname.

NFL Falls Over Itself to Hire Coach With 0-0 Record

0-0.

That's what all 12 NFL playoff teams are right now. Just ask Bill Belichick, who would know, since his playoff record is the stuff of legend.

That's not why 0-0 is in the news this week.

Instead, we present the story of Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh has accomplished great things at Stanford. Last year, the Cardinal got back into the postseason for the first time under his leadership, running back Toby Gerhart was invited to New York as a Heisman finalist, and young quarterback Andrew Luck took advantage of Gerhart's prowess to gain a ton of valuable experience and grow into the role.

This year, Luck was amazing, hitting over 70 percent of his passes and leading Stanford to a BCS bowl game for the first time in over a decade. Harbaugh has done a superb job rebuilding the talent base, and presenting that program with an opportunity to win at an elite level.

Michigan -- Harbaugh's alma mater -- has fired their coach. Efforts to hire Harbaugh have been futile so far, but you never know. The NFL has also come knocking on his door, hoping to lure him to the pro ranks with gobs of money.

Harbaugh has as many NFL coaching wins as I do. In fact, he has just two years of NFL coaching on his resume, and both of those were in Oakland as a quarterback coach.

He moved from there to become head coach at the University of San Diego, and then to Stanford.

The Miami Dolphins are among the franchises trying to lure Harbaugh, embarrassing themselves and the league by reportedly being willing to pay Harbaugh over $7 million per season. That's more than twice what some accomplished coaches in this league make, and it's an absolutely insane number for a guy like Harbaugh who lacks experience.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross might simply be trying to do what's best for his team, but his attempt to hire Harbaugh will simply hurt him on multiple levels.

• How can current coach Tony Sparano ever again trust his owner and general manager?
• How high did Ross just drive the price for every other random assistant or college head coach who is up for an NFL head job despite no previous experience?
• What the hell is it going to cost a team now to hire a guy like Jon Gruden or Bill Cowher out of retirement/television?

Ross might find some of these answers out the hard way, because there's no guarantee Sparano will want to stay with a group that he knows was actively trying to get rid of him in favor of a guy with zero NFL wins.

College coaches don't automatically succeed in the NFL. Some of them get sick of it and go back to college. Others just flame out and never are the same again.

No matter what, Ross' ploy was a dangerous, risky one, and now that it didn't work, the rather inexperienced NFL owner is left with a large amount of egg on his face.

Game 21: UMD at Clarkson

POTSDAM, N.Y. -- Long night ahead for the Bulldogs. Clarkson is bound to give a better 60-minute effort in this game, which is one they probably think they need as badly as I think UMD does.

From there, it's back on the bus to Syracuse, where the team will stay overnight ahead of the flight back home Wednesday.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
DeLisle - Oleksuk - Brown
Grun - Flaherty - Seidel
Kishel (seventh defenseman) - Tardy - Hendrickson

Palm - Montgomery
Bergman - Lamb
Olson - Huttel

Crandall - Reiter

Clarkson
DeFazio - Oakley - Freeman
Zarbo - Morley - McPherson
Pawlick - Tamblyn - Tremblay
Tuohimaa - Burton - Garlasco

Borowiecki - Pratt
Rufenach - Pizzo
Boak - Pokulok

Karpowich - LaVeau - Rosen

Potential Significance of UMD-Clarkson is High

CANTON, N.Y. -- Last year, UMD didn't miss the NCAA Tournament by much. While my math isn't good enough to run numbers and confirm anything, it's reasonable to suggest that if any one of five losses by UMD over the second half of the season in winnable games (at Vermont, at Bemidji State, vs. Bemidji State, at Michigan Tech, and at Alaska-Anchorage) had been wins instead of losses, the Bulldogs would have gone dancing.

Being close isn't good enough, and the best way to avoid letting a computer decide your fate is to just win games.

Of course, life isn't always that easy.

Right now, UMD is 13-4-3, pending Tuesday's game with Clarkson. According to the version of the Pairwise currently available at CHN, UMD sits at No. 6 in the Pairwise after Monday's 4-1 win in Potsdam. That puts them safely in the NCAA field, but we've got a lot of hockey left to play.

Because there's so much season left, Tuesday's game for UMD is a highly significant one. Here's why.

In the Pairwise, each team eligible (the top 25 of the RPI -- also known as Teams Under Consideration) is compared to one another in four different categories. Those are RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), Head to Head (when applicable), Record vs. Teams Under Consideration (TUC), and Record vs. Common Opponents (when applicable).

Because there simply aren't many WCHA vs. ECAC regular-season games, each one that is played gets over-valued in a sense. It's the nature of this system, and everyone is playing under the same rules. UMD's games against Clarkson are the only time this season they will see an opponent from the ECAC. Clarkson, meanwhile, will play every other team in the ECAC, including Yale, RPI, Union, Princeton, and Dartmouth, all of whom are currently in the Pairwise.

If UMD can beat Clarkson, they will help themselves immensely. Clarkson is unlikely to go the rest of the season without a win. They're a good team with a good record, and there are plenty of chances for them to beat a top team the rest of the way. Clarkson plays Yale, RPI, and Union twice each before the regular season ends. Every time one of those teams fails to beat Clarkson, it's a win in the Pairwise for UMD. The Golden Knights will not be the only common opponent for UMD and Yale, Union, or RPI, but they will be one of few.

Yale played (and won) at Colorado College. UMD hasn't played CC yet, but will visit in late February. RPI also visited CC, getting a loss and tie for their efforts. The Engineers don't share any other opponents. Union played Minnesota (win) and Bemidji State (loss) at the Gophers' tournament this past weekend, and the Dutchmen also beat Alaska-Anchorage in Fairbanks.

That makes Union 2-1 against those common opponents so far. UMD is 3-1-2 (two wins vs. UAA, a win and tie vs. Bemidji, and a loss and tie vs. UMTC). The Bulldogs still have two games left with Minnesota, and the games with Clarkson will count in that comparison once Union plays Clarkson this weekend.

Not only would a sweep of Clarkson help the Bulldogs in these individual comparisons, but it's a huge get if Clarkson plays well enough down the stretch to stay among the TUC teams. Record vs. TUC only counts if you have ten games against TUCs within a comparison (head-to-head games don't count; for example, when you compare UMD and North Dakota, their games against each other are eliminated from the TUC record, and because of that, the comparison isn't counted yet because UMD doesn't have ten games against other TUCs).

It's a bit early to pay much attention to the ebb and flow of the rankings, but it's not too early to understand what games are potentially significant to rankings and (maybe) seedings down the road.

I will now depart from the nerdery. Talk to you later from Potsdam.

USA Hockey Has a Ways to Go

While UMD was busy taking care of business at Clarkson Monday night, we were getting texts and Twitter updates on a game that wasn't going terribly well.

Unless you're Cody Danberg or one of the other six Canadians on the UMD roster.

None of us had a chance to watch Canada thrash the United States 4-1 at the World Juniors. We had the texts and tweets to tell us what was going on. From the sounds of it, we didn't miss much, and we didn't have to see the game. This dance has been danced before.

Pure Canadian domination. An American team that wasn't ready to play, even if they were talented enough to compete.

There's a reality that comes with a whipping like this. For the United States, it's another sign of both the progress that's been made, and the work that remains.

There is undeniable progress for USA Hockey. After all, they entered this tournament as no worse than a co-favorite, and many thought they could pick off Canada and win a second straight gold. The fact that sober, sane people could say this is a sign that USA Hockey has come a long way.

But getting beat 4-1 by a Canadian team missing at least six age-eligible players who could have made a difference is an unmistakable sign that much more progress is needed.

While Cam Fowler is patrolling the Anaheim Ducks' blue line, Canada is missing, yes, six players who were eligible by birthdate to compete in this tournament. Among them are Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, the top two picks in the 2010 draft. Evander Kane and Matt Duchene are also playing in the NHL and weren't released to play in the World Juniors.

More than any other country, Canada is stuck playing more of a "B" squad in this tournament. Sweden has guys like Magnus Paajarvi and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but they're not missing the bodies Canada is.

This happens every year, and it's not meant as an insult to any other country who misses players in this tournament because of pro commitments. Instead, it should be taken as a sign of Canada's superiority at this level.

Get to the national team level, and the Olympics proved that Canada doesn't have some sort of ridiculous advantage. As players get older, the gap narrows. When you pick teams of adults and have no restrictions on the players you can select, the United States can totally compete. They beat Canada in the Olympics last year before losing to them in overtime for the gold medal. As great as Ryan Miller was in the gold-medal game, final shots were only 39-36 in favor of Canada, hardly a dominant performance where they were simply thwarted by a hot goalie.

But at the U-20 level, Canada has a ridiculous edge in talent. Is it better youth development, or is there just an age where Canada has the talent and numbers to dominate the world?

If the U.S. is that capable of competing at the Olympic level, is it simply a matter of their players getting better at older ages? What's closing that gap?

There are a lot of questions, but again, we're back to the basic. When you look at this U-20 tournament, there's no question the United States has a way to go to become competitive on an annual basis.

A medal Wednesday would be huge for the Americans. Yes, the bronze sucks. It's not as pretty as the gold, and third place isn't nearly as sexy as first place. But it means you ended the tournament with a win, and it's a win that will mean something for an American squad that has never medaled in back-to-back World Juniors.

Canada will play for their 16th gold in this event later Wednesday, but you aren't going to magically start competing with the big dog on an annual basis. You have to build to that, and consecutive medals are a significant step in that build.

Just don't mistake last year's gold as a sign that the build has been completed.

Game 20: UMD at Clarkson

POTSDAM, N.Y. -- If you've never been to this part of the world, there is an easy comparison I can make for you.

It's like Houghton in a way. These are small towns and small schools and proud Division I programs that haven't seen the same kind of success they used to have.

Michigan Tech's past is more pronounced than Clarkson, their times as of late much harder. But there are similarities to the towns.

That might not be conducive to tourism, but we're not here to sightsee.

Lines?

Lines.

UMD
Connolly (Mike) - Connolly (Jack) - Fontaine
DeLisle - Oleksuk - Brown
Grun - Flaherty - Basaraba
Hendrickson - Tardy - Palm (seventh defenseman)

Kishel - Montgomery
Bergman - Lamb
Olson - Huttel

Reiter - Crandall

Clarkson
DeFazio - Oakley - Freeman
Zarbo - Morley - McPherson
Cayer - Tamblyn - Tremblay
Frederick - Burton - Garlasco

Pratt - Borowiecki
Rufenach - Reed
Boak - Pokulok

Karpowich - LaVeau - Rosen

William Wrenn Leaves Denver for WHL

The major junior ranks might not have been the preferred destination for former UMD defenseman Dylan Olsen, but they'll work just fine for William Wrenn.

The Denver sophomore, a high draft pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2009 and a product of the U.S. National Team development system, has decided to leave school and move on to the Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks.

The news was first reported by College Hockey News, via my friend Chris Dilks at Western College Hockey.

CHN quotes longtime Denver coach George Gwozdecky, and it's about as short and precise as Gwoz will ever be quoted.

“William has decided to leave our varsity hockey program and concentrate full-time on his hockey career,” Gwozdecky said. “William feels he will have a better opportunity to play on a regular basis and contribute in a more important role at the junior hockey level. He was a good teammate and was well liked in our locker room. William will be missed by our program.”

That's a solid, high-road response from the coach.

This isn't about Wrenn developing more quickly in the WHL, and there are no rumblings at this point that this departure is related to academics.

Instead, it's time, Wrenn has apparently decided, for a change of scenery. In 41 games at DU, he notched just eight assists, including one this season in 18 games, tying him with freshman goalie Sam Brittain on the team scoring chart.

Looking at Denver's lineup from their weekend games against Northern Michigan, it appears Wrenn was relegated to the role of seventh defenseman (DU dressed 11 forwards for each game). The continued improvement of John Lee, the emergence of freshman David Makowski, and the continued play of sophomore Matt Donovan made it tough for Wrenn to get a lot of minutes on special teams, and he was struggling to earn more ice time with the Pioneers.

He'll be a welcome addition for a Portland team that is looking like a strong contender for a spot in the Memorial Cup this May. However, with three defensemen possessing double digit plus-minus ratings, and two blue-liners at or over 20 points for the season, Wrenn might struggle for minutes in Portland the same way he did in Denver.

UMD Tries to Find Itself Again

CANTON, N.Y. -- For the UMD Bulldogs, the grind has resumed.

After a two-week break that followed a simply bizarre weekend at Minnesota -- nearly 20 inches of snow postponed a game and brought down the Metrodome, which was within view of our hotel -- the Bulldogs fell 5-0 to North Dakota Thursday in the Amsoil Arena opener.

It was a good hockey game that turned into a thrashing and an embarrassment for UMD. Throw in the injury to Kyle Schmidt and the departure of Dylan Olsen, along with the absence of Justin Faulk, and you have a lot of negativity introduced to a team that was rolling out of the gates.

Of course, nothing eliminates negativity more than a few goals and a couple wins, and the Bulldogs have that opportunity before them in upstate New York. It's UMD's first-ever visit to Cheel Arena in Potsdam, N.Y., and these goofy Monday-Tuesday games will probably help set the course for UMD's second half.

(In case you're wondering, the Monday-Tuesday series was necessitated by Clarkson basically double-booking itself. The initial plan was for UMD to be here for Thanksgiving weekend, but Clarkson was already scheduled to play in the Denver Cup. Denver normally has that event the weekend after Christmas, but moved it to Thanksgiving for whatever reason -- attendance, worries about World Junior losses, whatever. So Clarkson needed to move the UMD series, and the Bulldog coaches were kind enough to oblige. Personally, I would have made them forfeit. )

UMD does have to figure some things out. Quickly. Even at 12-4-3, there isn't much time to mess around and miss out on wins.

Where will the secondary scoring come from? Schmidt's absence isn't just a loss in terms of hockey smarts and speed. Schmidt has 18 goals over the last season and a half, and 16 of those have come even-strength. Without Schmidt, and with the second line of Schmidt, Travis Oleksuk, and J.T. Brown already struggling a bit at times recently, the coaches are challenged to find combinations on the second, third, and fourth lines that can generate chances and occasional goals.

A key player in this will be Mike Seidel. The sophomore didn't have his best game against North Dakota, but he's good around the net, is an offensive threat, and is still developing his game.

Will the FCC line force de-regulation? At this point in the season, there's little doubt that Mike Connolly (above) is UMD's best player. He drives opponents batty with his constant hustle and willingness to put his stick where some might argue it doesn't belong. He's a key cog in the power play, penalty kill, and top forward line. Frankly, there isn't much he doesn't do well. He even knows how to break glass.

However, the top line hasn't been humming as it was early in the season. One has to wonder if they can re-gain some of that lost mojo, or if it might be time to spread the proverbial wealth. We brought this up during Thursday's broadcast, and the idea isn't as easy to resist as it was in November.

No switch would be permanent, of course. There's always room for having your three best offensive players on a line together, and there's no doubt these three can handle large gobs of ice time.

Of course, in the end, the best way to keep defenses from stopping your three best offensive players might be to have them separated a bit, thereby keeping them from focusing all their juice on one line.

Who steps up on defense? A friend texted me last night to play the "What If?" game. After all, if you keep guys like Evan Oberg and Dylan Olsen from leaving early, you could have them working defensively with Mike Montgomery, Justin Faulk, Wade Bergman, and Brady Lamb right now. That would be pretty scary for opponents.

However, we've already seen one player step up his game this season, and now it's time for a second. Sophomore Drew Olson has vastly improved. He can skate, he isn't afraid to bring the puck up the rink, but he's also strong in his own zone and can play the physical game.

Throw in Bergman's ferocious hip checks, and Lamb's ability to hit, and you have some solid physical play on the blue line.

Now, we'll see if Scott Kishel can become the every-night player we all want to see him be. No one figures to benefit more from Olsen's departure, as Kishel can play the power play and is improving with the puck. He has to keep getting better defensively, but we're seeing signs that he can get the job done.

Once Faulk returns, Kishel will have to battle Lamb for power-play time, but that would probably be good for both guys. They're both capable offensive players who haven't yet blossomed in that area this season.

It all starts with Monday Night Hockey in Potsdam. Follow me on Twitter for updates, or listen to the game live at www.94xrocks.com.

Dylan Olsen Signing Doesn't Hurt College Hockey

As I mentioned Friday, former UMD defenseman Dylan Olsen chose to cement his departure from school by signing a pro contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He will report to Rockford of the American Hockey League after Canada is done playing in the IIHF World Junior Championships.

As is true whenever a college hockey player bolts midseason -- whether it be the likes of Brock Trotter or Kyle Okposo or Olsen or anyone else -- this has resulted in some hand-wringing, including by some UMD fans who went from hoping for the best for the Canadians in the World Juniors to practically hoping the arena collapses during one of their games.

The other thing you'll hear -- if you listen closely enough -- is talk that Olsen's signing is a blow to college hockey.

The same thing is said when a player like Sam Lofquist or Josh Birkholz leaves college for major junior. The same is said when a player like Jarred Tinordi jumps from a college commitment at the last minute to go play major junior.

While Olsen leaving doesn't do anything to make college hockey better, it's also hard to argue that Olsen's departure is any kind of blow to the reputation of the college game or its ability to attract and develop top players.

Instead, it's another example of what we mean when we say college isn't for everyone.

Some people flourish when given the added responsibility of being a student along with being a top-notch Division I athlete. That doesn't mean every Tom, Dick, and Harry who gets picked in the first round should go that route. For a guy like Olsen, there were signs that it just wasn't meant to be.

Olsen was allegedly a recruit with academic baggage when he signed at UMD. More than one hockey publication noted that other Division I schools tried to recruit him, but they didn't think he would qualify. Then sources last December indicated that Olsen might not return to the team. He managed to stay eligible then, and again to start his sophomore season.

After an uneven freshman season on the ice, Olsen really started to blossom as a sophomore. More than once, UMD coach Scott Sandelin talked about Olsen's development, referencing his failure to make the 2010 Canadian World Junior team as a negative turning point in his first year with UMD. It made sense. After all, Olsen was 18, carrying the weight of insanely high expectations, and generally having trouble with the speed of the Division I game. Then throw in the major disappointment of not having a chance to play for your country. It was a lot.

This season, Olsen got better. He developed chemistry with freshman Justin Faulk, who is on the American World Junior team. The two played together a lot, and eventually developed as UMD's best defensive pair. They saw extensive ice time in all situations, even if they weren't always on the ice together on power play and penalty kill.

Both left for the WJCs, and the roof fell in Thursday against North Dakota.

Rumors were out there for a week or two prior to that night that Olsen was going to be gone because of academics. Then Kyle Schmidt got hurt in practice Wednesday (out a month or so). Come Thursday night, the press box was buzzing with word that Olsen's fate was sealed: He was not going to return to UMD. It was confirmed Friday with his signing.

This was not an Okposo. Olsen didn't have a choice but to leave UMD. He sealed his fate by not taking care of his academic business.

College wasn't for him.

The sad thing is that we basically all knew that going in.

Olsen's loss isn't a loss for college hockey. He had a chance to go to UMD and better himself as a player and a person.

Unfortunately for him, he only chose to take advantage of one of those opportunities.

That doesn't hurt the college game. We already know that college hockey isn't the right place for every 18-year-old. Some need more time in juniors to mature ... physically and mentally. Some need to play in Canada's major junior system to develop, then move on to the pros. Unless you're a completely irrational supporter of either the CHL or NCAA, you recognize and understand this, and you're okay with it.

Olsen leaving proves nothing about the college game. It would have proven nothing had he left for major junior at some point, or if he hadn't come to college to start with.

Moreover, this story shows no previously undiscovered inadequacies in the NCAA system, nor does it show any real flaws in the NHL system.

******

The theories are out there. Some are speculating that he never intended to come back. He was gone no matter what. That's unfortunate, but I can't confirm any of that, and I'm not about to assail someone for something that can't be proven.

One thing I have a serious problem with is how this was handled. As of Friday, two sources told me that UMD coaches had not heard directly from Olsen or his agent about his decision. Duluth News Tribune writer Kevin Pates, who broke the story, had to find out from outside sources. Meaning someone with the Blackhawks or NHL.

That's disappointing, and no matter the other circumstances involved, it speaks to the character of the people involved. Before ink was put to paper, that phone call should have been made as a courtesy. UMD's coaches invested a lot of time in Olsen's development, in terms of ice time, practice hours, and off-ice work. The common courtesy of a phone call when he decides to leave early for pro hockey -- especially when leaving early during the season -- is the least that can be expected.

Hopefully, it's a phone call Olsen made this weekend. Better late than never, right?

It doesn't change the reality. UMD gave him a lot of ice time over the first 17 games (he left before the 18th game for the World Junior tryouts), and now they have to adjust on the fly to not having him again this season. For the likes of Wade Bergman, Brady Lamb, Mike Montgomery, Drew Olson, and Faulk, the job is tougher. Olsen not being around doesn't make this a better team. Instead, it's up to the Bulldogs to respond in a way that makes them a better team.

We'll find out starting Monday night if it's something UMD can make happen.