NCAA stuff

Knight with back to back shutouts this weekend against a good PC team. Id be shocked if he doesnt sign w/ the Panthers the day that BC's season ends. He looks like an NHL goalie already.
Hutsko looks good, a hard worker with good hands and quickness thats easy to root for I love the kid. He may be one of those guys that is either a top 6 player (in the NHL) or not dressed at all or in the AHL though.

One kid that has really opened up eyes at BC is freshman Nikita Nestrenko. Minnesota stole him in the 6th round in 2019. He had a rep of being casual/lazy coming in so we'll see, maybe he's due to slide in to some bad habits. For now though he looks really good.

 

lets get back at it. BC at UNH today with Knight expected to go.

 

BC wins it in OT!

 

love that open ice hit at the 20 second mark.
Knight, Newhook, Boldy leading the charge once again.
GWG by freshman Nikita Nesterenko, an absolute steal by the Minnesota Wild (pick #172 '19). Still has a ways to go to fill out, the NCAA route is the way for player like him.

 

Cole Caufield signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

The forward was the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. The 20-year-old completed his sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin and will report to Laval of the American Hockey League.

"There's a big difference between the NCAA and the NHL," Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said March 16. "We'll wait until the end of his season, then he can join us afterwards. Until he's with us, we won't know if he's ready to play for the pros."

Caufield led the NCAA with 30 goals and the Big Ten with 52 points this season. He was Big Ten Player of the Year and a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the player voted best in NCAA Division I men's ice hockey.

"I've watched games where his game without the puck, his commitment without the puck, took the biggest step for me," Bergevin said. "He's always been a goal-scorer ... those type of players where they need just that one chance and it's in the back of the net. That's always been there. I remember seeing a clip [when] they lost the puck at the blue line and [Caufield] was the first guy back and he lifted the guy's stick. I think his game without the puck has improved a lot."

Caufield is expected to be subject to a seven-day quarantine, with 14 days of COVID-19 testing, after arriving in Canada.

The Canadiens on Friday acquired forward Eric Staal in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Montreal (14-8-9) was fourth in the seven-team Scotia North Division entering play Saturday. The top four teams will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Canadiens have not played since last Saturday; their next four games were postponed due to NHL COVID-19 protocol. They are scheduled to play at the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Caufield's contract is for $700,000 at the NHL level this season and $832,500 at the NHL level through 2022-23. Caufield will receive three signing bonus payments of $92,500, and the contract contains performance bonuses up to a maximum of $300,000 next season and up to a maximum of $850,000 in 2022-23.

NHL.com

 

3 of the 4 teams in the Frozen Four are from Minnesota.
Congrats to St. Cloud, tiny little hockey school out there that has earned its 2nd career Frozen Four appearance by thoroughly outplaying BC. Game started really well for the Eagles as Boldy put em up 1-0 and they were carrying the play. Next thing you know St. Cloud's leading scorer gets hurt pretty badly, at this point I'm thinking BC just has to capitalize while St.Cloud is down.......... not to be. Rallying cry or whatever but St. Cloud carried the rest of the game. They certainly earned it and I'm pulling for a St. Cloud/UMass final, although I expect both of those teams to lose their semi.
Newhook nowhere to be seen yesterday. Hoping he comes back but I doubt it. Same for Boldy and Knight.

 

I have my reservations about Cole Caulfield at the next level but we shall see. Kind of unrelated but I think Zegras will be the better player.
I'm interested in seeing how Caulfield adapts to NHL structure and play w/out the puck. Will he be a Johnny Gaudreau or a Nathan Gerbe? Habs banking on JohnnyHockey Im sure.

 

Boldy bolts to the Iowa Wild.
Bye bye, Knight. See ya in Sunrise.
Avs have a Newhook in the org.

BC just lost a bunch of talent to the NHL. Of course, seeing their success will make it easier for York to ink young talent.

 

We could get only the 5th Championship between teams from the same state if Duluth wins. And different states at that.

1956: Michigan over Michigan Tech
1970: Cornell over Clarkson
1978: Boston University over Boston College
2013: Yale over Quinnipac
2021: Duluth vs Minnesota State/St. Cloud

Also if I'm not mistaken it's the first Frozen Four with 3 teams from the same state and we almost had 4 if Bemidji State beat UMass.

 

Also almost had 2 Mass vs 2 Minny Frozen Four, had BC been able to take care of business.
Minnesota is bigger than all of New England, and by a lot. Throw in UNH, Maine, PC, Vermont, Brown, Yale, Quinny......... you get my where Im going with this.

 

Hoping they can land some heart and soul types that will stay all 4 years. Feels like its been ages since they had more than 1 or 2 seniors that played significant roles. Especially the D. This team has lacked balls for a while.
Goalie will be interesting next year too.

 

Panthers sign Knight, as well as free agent Dman Kiersted out of North Dakota. From a team perspective, hate that a year of ELC gets burned with Bob still under contract another five years. From a player perspective, Knight was going to get paid now. Guy has the talent to make demands.

Kiersted will probably see NHL time before the season is over. With Ek gone, that defense is bad, and it's probably why he signed there. He's going to get a chance to show whether he's an NHL'er ASAP, and there aren't prospects in the system to compete with him in the coming years. Locked into a spot if he doesn't suck.

 

Times like these demand we stop being pussies! I’ll do my part and boldly tell you how the Frozen Four will play out:
1) MN State -
I) MN St. -
2) St. Cloud -
Champions - MN State
3) UM Duluth -
II) UM Duluth -
4) UMass -

Your Minnesota State Mavericks will be the he NCAA Champions.

Then the frenzy to sign undrafted G, Darren McKay, will begin.

 

Well, the Frozen Four did not go according to plan ^.

Congratulations to the UMass Minutemen. I did not recall that UMass dropped hockey backbone the day due to a lack of a barn. They did not return until almost 30 years ago. Now they have something shiny for that barn.

 

Recently become commonplace for teams to sign and waste an ELC year for college kids. Sucks from an organizational standpoint but losing them to UFA if they wait out 4 years from their draft would be worse and gives the kids leverage.