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October 3, 2006

WCHA pre-season press conference

Jim Dahl

Though I'm not intentionally a twice-a-year blogger, you can always count on a roadtrip report and a summary of the WCHA season kick-off press conference.

Below are highlights of the conference-wide announcements, N.D. coach Hakstol's comments, and a few other selected commments I found interesting. Everything here should be construed as a summary of my interpretation of statements; it certainly contains no direct quotes and is quite likely to contain factual errors.

Doug Spencer (Associate Commissioner for Public Relations)

Bruce McLeod (Commissioner)

• There are no new head coaches, somewhat unusual.
• Congratulations to Mike Eaves and UW for their national championship.
• The WCHA is strong, coming off record attendances and its most competitive regular season ever.
• There were unusually high underclassmen signings, 17 this summer.
• The league had 5 first round NHL draft picks, same as last year.
• Last year was the WCHA's 5th consecutive national championship. That's not a record, not only did it happen when hockey was just getting going in the 50s, but also in the 70s and 80s. Accomplishing it today is fantastic.
• Though Hockey East and CCHA didn't have unusual underclassmen signings, the WCHA may be a little more like college basketball now, no top tier seniors.

Greg Shepherd (Supervisor of Officials)

• We're moving to a two year rulebook
• Attainable pass rule: If pass comes from inside of zone and its in a player's realm and he doesn't touch it, icing will be waved off, just like in the NHL.
• Player can be in goal crease if he does not enter goal tenders movement or screen him in any manner.

• A new officiating system with two linesmen and two referees. It worked well in exhibition and is likely to come into league play in 2008.
• Teams can't substitute players after icing.
• Shorthanded teams can't ice the puck.

Mike Eaves - Wisconsin

Q. After the championship season, I assume interest is high in Madison?
A. 22-23000 season tickets sold of a possible 30000 [Note - Wisconsin splits series into two tickets packages]. Student season tickets sold out.

Q. You obviously have the best goaltender, who's second best?
A. St. Cloud, Bobby Goepfert.

Q. Who did you vote for in the coaches' poll?
A. Minnesota to win. Duluth is my second pick that a lot of other people might not have had right up there.

Dave Hakstol - North Dakota

We've had the benefit of a full practice and the exhibition game against Manitoba. We're a very young team, with a theme of development. Right now, we have 18 freshmen and sophomores on our roster out of 25 eligible players.

The first month of our schedule is extremely challenging, so we need to get some things set in place in a hurry. There are a lot of new opportunities on our team. In goal, we feel Phil is ready to step up, but there are opportunities for the freshmen. Up front, Toews and Oshie are returning but they have to step up and prove they can lead up there. We're solid on the blue line with some experience and Bina and Chay Genoway joining in.

Q. Looking over your roster, you could lose a lot of guys next year like other teams did this year.
A. [interrupts] We lost five guys this year.
Q. Ok, what impact do you think the new NHL CBA will have?
A. Five years from now we'll be able to tell. What we saw this summer had something to do with the new CBA, and some with the tremendous quality of players in the league. Whether that trend will continue or be a one or two year impact, we can't answer.

Q. Bina came back and had that great ovation the other night, what can he bring to the team?
A. Robbie means so much to our hockey team. Though he didn't play the last month of 04-05 or at all last year, he was a big part of the team in the locker room. The stability he brings, not only to the locker room, but now also the ice, is very important.

Q. Have you found a new guy that you've been particularly impressed with so far, your team has always been able to find new guys?
A. We all have good players within our programs. It's a matter of opportunities. Sometimes that's all it takes, for a player to have that opportunity to step into a line that's expected to score every night and they can take advantage.

Q. Along those lines, you mentioned Lamoureux. Can he be that #1 guy?
A. History can sometimes predict the future to a certain degree. Phil has been most effective when he can begin as the #1 guy. He has some competition, but he's starting as the #1 guy and can take that ball and run with it. He's played in a lot of big games and tough games and has performed well. Phil is ready physically and mentally to step into that role.

Q. Talk about the loss of Brad Berry.
A. Tough guy to lose personally, he's such a good friend. We're happy for him, he's excited about his new role with the Manitoba Moose. He had such a great relationship, 1 on 1, with all the players. He did a tremendous job with the individual development side of all of our players, forwards and goaltenders as well. That's an element we were trying to replace in hiring Dane Jackson.

Q. Talk about Dane.
A. He's excited to be back in North Dakota. He brings huge enthusiasm to the rink. As so many good young players come in, sometimes not for a long period, individual development is critical -- not only for them individually but for the team.

George Gwozdecky - Denver

The only thing I liked of the experimental rules were the two referees and two linesmen. The rest can be thrown in the garbage can, as far as I'm concerned.

[interrupts when a Twins report can be heard in the background] Who hit a home run? Seriously, stop. I want to know who hit a home run? [Repeats a few times until someone answers, Frank Thomas]

Q. There's been a lot of talk about young teams this year.
A. [interrupts] We say that every damn year. I feel like hanging the phone up when I hear these guys complaining about young teams. That's part of coaching. It is what it is. Do we recruit differently? No. We don't look at if a kid's a 2 or 4-year player, we look for a talented character player who can contribute well. When he leaves is up to him.

Q. Is CC going to be as bad as everyone says?
A. Who says that?
Q. You know, people in Colorado.
A. Colorado Springs? Any time you don't give a proud team like the Tigers the respect they deserve, you're taking a risk. They lost Sterling and Sertich, but I don't doubt they'll be right in the hunt the second half. I've never been a big believer in the pre-season coaches' poll. They'll sneak up on a lot of teams this season.

Scott Owens - Colorado College

Q. Is there a benefit to guys leaving early, does it help with recruiting?
A. I think it helps overall. These kids' goals and aspirations are to play professional hockey. Where are they going to get an opportunity to play and develop and move on to the next level. We use that to a certain extend and kids are dialed into that.

Dave Shyiak - Alaska Anchorage

Q. Have you considered holding games earlier than 7pm (Alaska time) to get more nationwide media exposure? By the time you play your games, it's so late East of Denver.
A. We want to schedule our games to the best benefit of the people here. If we want more outside media exposure, we need to move up in the standings. That would be the best way.