Derek Stepan is just one of 8 former college players listed in today's Transactions. (Photo: BroadwayHockeyDaily.com)
Thursday’s start to the NHL Free Agent signing period was a nice pace of busy – just enough to keep die-hards engaged, but not so much as to seem like free agents were being tossed like slippery fish in Pike’s Place Fish Market in Seattle.
For us college hockey fans out there, many of the giant moves of the day had little to do with college hockey alumni. That isn’t to say that college hockey alumni stayed still – some moved, one officially left early, and we found a blog favorite swapped right before bedtime on free agency eve. A few quick notes for college hockey fans looking to keep up with Day 1:
- University of Vermont hangs with the Gophers and Badgers. Of the eight college hockey players (my own hand count – feel free to call me out if I’m wrong) changing hands or signing deals since late Wednesday evening, two were from the University of Vermont: Martin St. Louis (whose four year contract extension with the Lightning was previously announced but officially went through today) and The Swedish, blog favorite Viktor Stalberg (who found himself a part of a giant deal where he was swapped with others by the Maple Leafs in exchange for Chicago Blackhawks Kris Versteeg and Bill Sweatt, a Colorado College alum.) The Catamounts tied with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota for the most amount of former college players listed on the transaction wire in the past 24 hours (2 each). Now about that “former players” bit, Badgers….
- Derek Stepan officially ended his college career today. Stepan, the WCHA leader in points and assists this past season, ended his collegiate elgibility by agreeing to terms with the New York Rangers (quite the college hockey friendly franchise, eh?) He played two seasons for the Badgers, and captained the victorious squad at this year’s World Junior Championships. Not a shocking early leave, but still a early college departure in a season chock full of them…
- The State of Hockey gets one of their own. St. Cloud State alum Matt Cullen was signed to a three year deal by the Minnesota Wild today, after playing with the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators this past year. Cullen is from Virginia, MN, giving him what is sure to be the “Little Boy In Minnesota” dream trifecta: grow up in Minnesota, play college hockey in Minnesota, then play professional hockey in Minnesota. Awww. I’m such a sucker for those stories.
Your list for Day 1, with help from TSN.ca (Happy Canada Day!)
- Toronto swapped Viktor Stalberg (UVM-Hockey East) and two others for Bill Sweatt (CC-WCHA) and Kris Versteeg from Chicago.
- Martin St. Louis (UVM back during the ECAC days) signed a four-year contract extentsion with Tampa Bay.
- Derek Stepan (Wisc.-WCHA) agrees to terms with the New York Rangers officially, thus ending his elgibility two years early.
- Matt Cullen (St. Cloud State – WCHA) signs a three year deal with the Minnesota Wild.
-Adam Burish (Wisc. – WCHA) signed a two year deal with the Dallas Stars after spending three seasons with Chicago.
- Jordan Leopold (Minn. – WCHA) signs a three year contract with the Buffalo Sabres.
-Jonathan Matsumoto (Bowling Green – CCHA) signed a two-year, two-way contract with Carolina. He’s spent his four pro seasons in the Phantoms organization in the AHL.
-Paul Martin (Minn. – WCHA) signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, after spending his entire pro thus far with the New Jersey Devils. (I initially forgot this, and didn’t see it listed when I was investigating the TSN transactions list Thursday evening, but big thanks to Laurel for reminding me.)
I know, you probably look upon my shameless self-promotion with a great amount of disdain. But sometimes I write something that I just need to promote across many platforms, and the following is one of them.
A new professional lacrosse league is in the works in Virginia, and all profits from the league will go to Haitian earthquake relief. Allan Harvie, the founder and commissioner, was a blast to talk to on the phone and is extremely passionate about sports and helping the devastated country. As I posted on Facebook, even if you have no interest in sports, Harvie’s story is an interesting one.
Read my article on Harvie’s plan to help Haiti through lacrosse here.
This year’s coverage of the NHL Draft is some of the best I’ve ever seen in any sport. Much of that is due to the social media saturation of hockey, a sport whose earlier decline led to an early adoption of social media, which has led in part to a public resurgence. (But that is a story for another evening.)
While I seriously lack any unique knowledge or insights, I wanted to share some of the story lines, Twitters and blogs I’m following as the draft unfolds this weekend.
- Are the NHL scouts as high on Charlie Coyle as we all are?
Could BU bound Charlie Coyle be the first college player taken in the draft? the most optimistic of projections have him going in the late first round, and even the college-player-shy Boston Bruins have worked out and dined the Massachusetts local. Will Coyle be the sixth BU player to be the first college player picked in the draft in history? (Fun facts provided by these interesting-to-college-hockey-geek-me College Hockey News charts.)
Not so fast, says SB Nation’s In Lou We Trust. While the rest of the media have been touting Coyle’s upside, this New Jersey Devils blog is a great summation of some realistic reviews of his ability. Will his offensive playmaking translate over from his EJHL days? While I believe the dismissal of the EJHL as a “weak league” is incorrect, I may agree with In Lou We Trust that Coyle’s talent on bigger stages may not be easily predictable.
I did speak with one person deep in the know in the EJHL last Friday who says that BU fans won’t be disappointed in Coyle, and that he is quite fun to watch. Could it be that Coyle is one great college hockey player – one BU fans sorely need after having all the fun sucked out of their 2009-10 season – but not first or second round draft pick worthy? read more…
Source: BostonBruins.com
While making my first ever visit to the landmark Kowloon Restaurant this weekend, I happened upon information about the Ice & Dice Casino Night event happening this Wednesday night (June 23). Sponsored by the Boston Bruins, the event will benefit the Bruins Foundation Pan-Mass Bike Team, which in turn benefits Dana Farber Cancer Institute. (‘Tis the time of year for Pan-Mass fundraisers – I just attended a great one at The Bell in Hand last Thursday evening to help out my friend Chris Villiani’s Pan-Mass team.)
From 7-11pm Wednesday night, Bruins alums and Bruins Foundation volunteers will play blackjack, craps, roulette and poker while raffling and auctioning off sports memorabilia. I also imagine some PuPu Platters, Saugus Wings and Fog Cutters (my husband’s favorite Kowloon drink) might also be involved…
Tickets are $30, and are available by emailing foundationevents@bostonbruins.com or calling 617-624-1889.
Penguin suits, Martha Stewart and bad slides – oh my!
On Monday, I attended TWTRCON 2010 at the Hilton New York (quite the glided hotel, by the way.) It was exciting to finally be in a professional development opportunity that aligns with my current position and what I wish to do in the future, instead of those student affairs conferences that I always felt entirely out of place at (I’m not a fan of the icebreaker). Plus, I was able to meet a great deal of folks I had conversed with for years on Twitter, but hadn’t ever met in person, which is always awesome.
Before I jumped on my bus home, I met a friend for a beer at the new Brewery in Port Authority (convenient for those times that you want to be sedated before taking a Greyhound bus any length of time, which is most of the time) and he excitedly asked me how it was. He’s the more coherent and thought-out version of what I told him over a yummy Apricot Beer: read more…
