Faceoff

Zmolek to coach in MEPDL

FELDY: Former Rochester John Marshall hockey player and NHLer Doug Zmolek will coach one of the seven teams this fall in the Minnesota Elite Prep Development League (previously the Minnesota high school Elite II League).

Zmolek will coach the South team this fall, which is also the first time that the Elite II league has formally been affiliated with the Upper Midwest High School Elite League. He did some volunteer assistant coaching with the Century High School team last winter, working primarily with the Panthers' defensemen.

Here is the Let's Play Hockey article on the seven coaches for the MEPDL teams.

The MEPDL features some of the top high school players from across the state. Teams are compiled geographically and the league is designed for some of the state's best underclassmen to be able to play 15-20 games prior to the start of the high school season.

Another Rochester connection in the MEPDL this fall — former Rochester Mustang, Andy Vix, will coach the Metro Southeast team. Vix played one season for the Mustangs and graduated from John Marshall in 1998.

Rosters, coaches and game reports/statistics will be posted at mnhockeyhub.com when the rosters are finalized and we draw closer to the fall season.

NHL Draft | Century, Lourdes games appeared in highlight videos

FELDY: Probably not the way players from Century and Lourdes ever hoped to show up on the NHL Draft, but during Friday's first round, brief video clips of games played by each of those teams were aired.

A few plays from Century's 2009 Class AA state tournament game against Blaine were shown when Blaine's Nick Bjugstad was drafted No. 19 overall by the Florida Panthers. Bjugstad will make the short commute to the U of M this fall to play for the Gophers -- and will be a teammate of '05 Century grad Alex Kangas, 

Here's the video of Bjugstad being drafted; the highlights of the Blaine-Century game begin at the 1:24 mark of the clip.

Lourdes showed up on the final pick of the first round, when Warroad High School's Brock Nelson was drafted by the New York Islanders. They show a pair of short highlights of Nelson, beginning :40 into the video clip. The first highlight is of Nelson scoring against Breck in the state semifinals back in March; the second highlight is of Nelson scoring on a breakaway against Lourdes in the state quarterfinals. Nelson is headed to North Dakota this fall.

Here's the video of Nelson being drafted.

Pro Hockey | Bruins qualify Stuart

FELDY: I'm sure Boston Bruins fans are ecstatic after last weekend seeing how Rochester native Mark Stuart, former Gopher Blake Wheeler and Adam McQuaid were all given qualifying offers by the Bs. OK, so maybe Bruins fans are more pumped up about Tyler Seguin coming to Boston, but it's good to know that Stuart and Wheeler are wanted in Boston, right? Right?

What does this mean? I don't know does anyone really understand the way pro sports league's salary structure/free agency systems work? I guess, bottom line, this means Stuart is bound to play at least one more season in Boston, at about 110 percent (at least) of what he made last season.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but as a restricted free agent, Stuart's qualifying offer is between 100-110 percent of what he made last season. If he doesn't receive a free agent contract offer from another team, he'll sign that QO and play the '10-'11 season under that contract. At that point, he and the Bruins can talk about a long-term deal, if they choose to.

Stuart, the Bruins' 2003 first-round draft pick, completed a two-year, $2.6 million deal this season. The odds that he'll receive a free agent offer from another team are slim; most teams don't want to give up the draft picks associated with signing an RFA away from another team.

The Bruins don't come to Minnesota this season, by the way. The closest they get is Detroit, on Feb. 13.

Wild draft talk, Back from vacation ... physically, anyway

FELDY: This is what it takes to get me to post on the blog these days: I'm watching the Isner-Mahut match at Wimbeldon. Bad tennis, but I can't stop watching simply because I don't want to miss the end. Don't even really like tennis, but if a baseball game went into the 35th inning, you'd watch, right?

In today's print edition of the P-B, Phersy and I talk Wild offseason and NHL draft. The Wild, for now, have the No. 9 overall pick. Who do they take with that pick? Who knows? Their options are a jumble of names, mostly from Canadian juniors, that most fans haven't heard of and won't start caring about for a couple years, at least.

But, since some of us are complete rubes, here's some YouTube clips of guys who the Wild could take if they decide to stay at No. 9 and make the pick:

* Brett Connolly, RW, Prince George (WHL), 6-2, 181. Connolly to the Wild might be wishful thinking. Very well could be gone by No. 9.

* Nino Niederreiter, LW, Portland (WHL), 6-1, 205

* Emerson Etem, W, Medicine Hat (WHL), 6-0, 194

* Ryan Johansen, C, Portland (WHL), 6-3, 190

* Jeff Skinner, C, Kitchner (OHL), 5-10, 195

* Derek Forbort, D, USNTDP (Duluth native), 6-4, 200. Of course if it was up to me, Forbort would be the Wild's pick. You know he's tough; he'll be a defenseman at North Dakota this fall. :-)

* Nick Bjugstad, C, Gophers (Blaine H.S.) -- No. 9 is probably too high to expect Bjugstad to go, but if the Wild trade down, Bjugstad's combination of size (6-3, 190), speed and wicked shot might be difficult to pass up.

---

A couple of other quick notes from the Wild Road Tour stop here in Rochester on Monday:

* No breaking news here, but a Wild employee told me that team owner Craig Leipold is pushing very hard for the NHL to give the Wild the NHL Winter Classic, and do so soon. Problem: The NHL doesn't want to bring the game here until the Wild has a team worthy of putting in the national spotlight. So, it'll be a few years before we can watch our favorite NHL club play outdoors on New Year's Day. ... And, it sounds like the venue of choice would be the Gophers' TCF Bank Stadium, not Target Field, because TCF has more seats (more seats = more tickets sold = more $ for Wild, NHL). ... And it sounds like Dallas will be the opponent if/when the Classic comes to Minny.

---

Tennis match ... dead. Isner wins fifth set 70-68. Mahut, like all good Frenchies, should've just surrendered. That's it for me, too.

Bruins fans want Stuart back

FELDY: Apparently Boston Bruins understand that Mark Stuart's value to the team goes beyond goals and assists. Stuart, a Rochester native and Bruins defenseman, is one of the team's better penalty killers.

If a Boston Globe poll is any indication, fans want Stuart, a restricted free agent, back. Boston.com is asking fans whether the Bruins should keep each of their free agents or let them go. As of this afternoon, 14,303 votes had been cast in Stuart's poll and 82.8 percent of those voters say the Bruins should re-sign Stuart.

A link to the poll is here.

Stuart is well thought-of within the organization, too. If you click on the link, you'll see the Globe's "Case to keep Stuart" says he is thought of as "a possible future captain." The only knock against him: Salary might be an issue. Stuart made $1.5 million in 2009-10, in the second year of a two-year deal. He had 2 goals and 5 assists in 56 regular-season games this season. He missed 26 regular season games due to injuries to his sternum and hand.

High School Hockey | Rochester well represented at Lucia's Model Camp

FELDY: The 25th annual Model Camp is being held for high school-age hockey players primarily from Minnesota. Gophers coach Don Lucia is again leading the camp, being held at Mariucci Arena and Ridder Arena on the U of M campus.

The camp started Monday and runs through Saturday. Rochester is well represented this year, and as a sign of its growth, Dodge County has three players at one of the more elite camps in the state.

There are 12 teams with about 18 players each. Each team includes players from different parts of the state; teams are named by jersey color.

All of the rosters can be found here.

Notes of interest:

* Lourdes defenseman Rory Vesel and his brother, Tyler, are on the same team (Light Blue Team). Tyler, 16, will be a sophomore at hockey factory Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault this fall.

* Lou Nanne's grandson, Louis, and Jordan Schroeder's brother, Zach, are on the same team (Cardinal Team). Louis Nanne will be a sophomore at Edina this fall, while Zach Schroeder will be a senior at St. Thomas Academy.

* Rochester's goaltending depth is good. Four Rochester goalies are at the camp -- Nick Heimer of Lourdes, Bryan King of JM, and Cam Sellnow and Brock Kautz from Century.

* Two of the Rochester goalies at the camp are on the same team -- Century's Brock Kautz and JM's Bryan King. Lourdes' Landon Farrell and Alex Funk are also on that team.

* One of the top two or three goalies in Section 1AA, Lakeville North's Charlie Lindgren, is on the Navy Team, the same team as U of M recruit Adam Wilcox of South St. Paul. Also on that team is Tanner Keller, a D from Dodge County, and Wayzata junior Mario Lucia, coach Lucia's son.

Here's a list of local (Rochester, Dodge Co. or Red Wing) players at the camp (including grade each player will be in this fall):

BLACK TEAM
Brian Wasz (Sr. F, Lourdes, 6-0 1/2, 190)

ROYAL TEAM
Brock Kautz (Jr., G, Century, 5-10 1/2, 175)
Bryan King (Sr., G, JM, 6-2 1/2, 176)
Landon Farrell (Jr., F, Lourdes, 5-9, 176)
Alex Funk (So., F, Lourdes, 5-7, 148)

GREY TEAM
Drew Wohlfiel (Sr., F, Dodge Co., 5-7, 138)

GOLD TEAM
Dustin Stevens (Sr., G, Dodge Co., 5-7, 130)

NAVY TEAM
Tanner Keller (Sr., D, Dodge Co., 6-0 1/2, 214)

LIGHT BLUE TEAM
Rory Vesel (Sr., D, Lourdes, 5-11 1/2, 177)
Tyler Vesel (So., F, Shattuck St. Mary's, 5-10, 150)

PURPLE TEAM
Cam Sellnow (Sr., G, Century, 5-10 1/2, 198)

WHITE TEAM
Nick Heimer (Sr., G, Lourdes, 5-9 1/2, 178)
Sam Slightam (Sr., D, Lourdes, 5-11 1/2, 170)
Zach Johnson (Sr., F, JM, 5-9, 160)
Ryan Yetzer (Sr., F, JM, 6-3, 189)

OTHER BIG NINE/SECTION 1 PLAYERS
Faribault -- Brandon Parker (Jr., D, 5-7 1/2, 160)

Farmington -- Tyler Grubb (Sr., F, 6-0 1/2, 201)

Lakeville South -- Drew Brevig (Sr., D, 6-1, 174); Zach Thielen (Sr., F, 5-8, 181); Colton Radtke (Sr., F, 5-11, 164); Mike Chuinard (Jr., F, 5-9 1/2, 146); Justin Kloos (Jr., F, 5-8, 155); Kyle Osterberg (So., F, 5-7, 154)

Lakeville North -- John Domina (Sr., F, 6-1 1/2, 171); Charlie Lindgren (Jr., G)

High school hockey | A big loss for Red Wing

FELDY: If it wasn't enough that long-time coach George Nemanich has decided to step down, the Red Wing boys hockey team will be losing Jake O'Borsky, a junior-to-be who would have by far been the team's top returning scorer.

O'Borsky had an outstanding sophomore season on a team that drastically improved in the latter stages of the season and came up one win shy of a trip to the Class A state tournament.

O'Borsky will transfer to Benilde-St. Margaret's, as his father has taken a job in the Twin Cities.

O'Borsky was the Wingers' second leading scorer this past season, with 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points. He had five goals and three assists in the Wingers' four postseason games.

Red Wing's top returning scorer will now be Jack Strusz. He'll be a junior next season. As a sophomore, he had five goals and seven assists for 12 points. He had four goals and six assists in the regular season.

Lakeville's Kvasnicka hurt Rochester hockey teams more than baseball

FELDY: Lakeville North grad and current Gophers baseball standout Mike Kvasnicka was drafted in Round 2 of the Major League Baseball draft today by the Houston Astros. Kvasnicka, a 2007 North grad, was also a standout on the Panthers' hockey teams.

While his team lost in the Section 1AA hockey final to Rochester Century in Kvasnicka's senior season, he played a key role in denying Century a trip to state in '06, in another in a long line of nail-biting, heartbreaking overtime games between those two teams in the hockey section finals.

Kvasnicka was the player who, on March 4, 2006, scored at 7:44 of the third overtime to send Lakeville to state. In that game, Lakeville scored twice in the third period -- including once with just 52 seconds remaining -- to force OT. After two scoreless OTs, Kvasnicka beat Century goalie Kraig Ewing on Lakeville's 62nd shot of the game.

Kvasnicka, a catcher/outfielder at Minnesota, was hitting .350 with eight homers and 48 RBIs before the Gophers NCAA tourney game on Monday. The Astros reportedly plan to move him to third base.